
When Mother Lets Us Travel 


FRANCE 


CONSTANCE JOHNSON 



























1 ♦* 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT, 







* 























TO h F ti fljntljrr Ij r t 8 H s travel 



IN FRANCE 

















Statue of Joan of Arc — Rheims 


















WHEN MOTHER LETS 
USTRAVELIN FRANCE 


BY 

CONSTANCE JOHNSON 

Author of “ When Mother Lets us Cook,” “ When 
Mother Lets us Help,” etc. 


Illustrated from Photographs 



NEW YORK 

MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY 

1912 







Copyright, 1912, by 
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 
New York 

All Rights Rtaerved 


$ /.& ° 

S Cl. A 3 2 0 G1 5 




TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER 
and the Happy Family who traveled with them to the 
Lands of Old Romance in ’89 and ’97 
this Book is lovingly dedicated 






















CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I The Landing — Havre — Change of Plan . i 
II French Trains — Mers-Rouen and Some 

French History.io 

III Seeing Rouen — Arrival in Paris — An Ad¬ 

venture .20 

IV Rheims and the Aviation Meet — Monsieur 

Jean.32 

V The de Tonvilles — Seeing Paris with Mon¬ 
sieur Jean. 45 

VI The Twins at Mers — The Sand Carnival — 

The Procession.55 

VII Paris — Versailles — The Louvre ... 64 

VIII Mont St. Michel — An Adventure on the 

Sand — Bertrand du Guesclin .... 76 

IX Vitre — Le Mans — The Camera is Found . 90 

X Orleans — A French Chateau — Monsieur 

Jean Appears.100 

XI The Jour de Fete.108 

XII The Struggle in Herr Berkmann’s Room — 

The Escape.113 

XIII Jack Tells His Father — Blois — Story of 

the Duke of Guise.123 

XIV Touraine — The Chateaux Country . . . 133 

XV Tours — An Adventure in the Cathedral — 

French Soldiers.141 











CONTENTS 


CHAPTER i 

XVI Mr. Carter and Jack Go to Paris — Langeais 
— Alice and Mr. Carter Visit a Baroness. 
XVII The Chateau de Riviere — THe Ghost Room 

— Uncle Henri’s History. 

-XVIII Alice and Ryan Discover the Ghost — Letter 
from Uncle Henri — The Carters Return 

to Tours .. 

XIX The Fight in tfie Air - - Jack at School — 

“ For Service Rendered ”. 

XX Loches — Unde Henri Again — The Jour¬ 
ney South. 

XXI Provence — Monsieur Jean’s Family — Pont 

au Gard . .. 

XXII Christmas in Provence — A Letter from the 
Baroness — Au Revoir. 


PAGE 

157 

170 

179 

190 

200 

213 

221 






LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Statue of Joan of Arc — Rheims . . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

A beautiful stone tracery — Rouen . . . . 16 

He was not flying to amuse spectators .... 36 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame.50 

Wonderfully hideous.. .60 \/ 

Where the Queen played.72' 

From the mainland to the island.92 

A really old town — Lannion.96 

In honor of Joan of Arc.102 V 

The winding staircase.114 ^ 

Emblem of Louis XII — Blois.128^ 

Tomb of the children of Charles VIII . . . 128 

The bed of Catherine de Medici.136 

Emblem of Francis I.142 

“As she goes from day to day ” . . . . . 166 7 

Where the sun never shone.176^ 

He goes from house to house with a tub . . . 202 











/» 










WHEN MOTHER LETS US 
TRAVEL IN FRANCE 

CHAPTER I 

THE LANDING — HAVRE — CHANGE OF PLAN 

The steamer from Southampton was almost within 
sight of Havre, after a somewhat tempestuous night. 
The passengers, more or less disheveled, had come 
on deck and were waiting in the cold morning air for 
the steamer to reach port. Some had breakfasted, 
some had felt no inclination to do so. Others had 
nibbled on sandwiches or sweet chocolate with which 
they had prudently provided themselves. A boy of 
twelve sat curled up in a steamer chair, writing to a 
chum at home. 

“ Dear Dick: 

“ We’re most there. I haven’t been seasick at 
all. But Alice has been awful all night. Poor 
mother had to sit up with her. I slept like a top. 
So did father. We’ve got a French governess, and 
she’s a wonder. But she can’t talk much English. 
She hasn’t come up yet. She has 4 mal-de mer.’ The 
twins are with her. Father is looking for our bag¬ 
gage. 


2 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ It’s great to think of going to France. I have 
been reading a book called ‘ The White Company 
it’s dandy. It starts in England and goes to France, 
just like us. 

“ How are all the fellows in school? You ought 
to hear me trying to talk French. But wait till I’ve 
been there a few months! 

“ Here comes father. Jinks I’m hungry. 
Good-by. 

“ Jack.” 

Jack’s father, Mr. Carter, a tall, broad-shouldered 
man came up to find his family. 

“ Where are they all, Jack? ” he asked. 

“ I don’t know, I haven’t seen them since I got 
up. Are we nearly there ? ” 

“We will be there in a little while. We were 
delayed by the rough weather. But we ought to 
collect our things. There’s your mother now.” 

An attractive, pleasant-faced woman, brown-haired 
and brown-eyed, joined them, followed by a steward 
carrying bouillon and crackers. 

“ We have all been having some,” she said. “ I 
thought perhaps you would enjoy it.” 

“ Sure, Mother, it is fine.” 

“ We are always ready for something good,” was 
the equally enthusiastic reply of Mr. Carter. 
“ Where are the rest? ” 

“ Mademoiselle is getting them in order; poor 
Alice has been really sick, and Mademoiselle felt ill 
herself and had hard w’ork with Bob and Katherine.” 



THE LANDING—HAVRE — CHANGE OF PLAN 


t 


“ Those kids are always into everything,” re¬ 
marked Jack. 

“ You would have thought so if you had seen 
them collide with the steward, who was carrying 
coffee and crackers to some hungry passengers.” 

“ Here they come at last! ” cried Jack, and Made¬ 
moiselle appeared upon deck, preceded by a rosy- 
faced boy and girl, who looked enough alike to 
be unmistakably twins. Following them came Alice, 
a brown-haired girl of ten, who was unusually pale 
as a result of her late unpleasant experience. The 
twins managed to run into a half a dozen people be¬ 
fore they reached their father and mother. Made¬ 
moiselle, scolding in broken English, picked them up 
or put their clothes to rights as the occasion de¬ 
manded. 

“Hurrah! we’re almost there! We had a fine 
time downstairs,” chorused the two. They were apt 
to speak at the same moment. 

“ Yes, I am glad to say. Robert, do take them 
for a walk on deck and show them something, and 
don’t let them get dirty again. Mademoiselle has 
made them look so clean.” 

“ Tell us a story, Daddie,” begged Jack, “ and 
I’ll come, too. We will have just time for one.” 

“ No use trying, Jack. Bob and Katherine have 
got to behave and I cannot tell a story and keep all 
my attention on them. We will be there very soon 
anyway.” 

Almost before the twins had time to get dirty again 
they were in sight of Havre, with its many white 



4 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


stone docks, its water front cut by frequent inlets, its 
bays filled with shipping. There were steamers, 
transatlantic and coastwise, there were gallant sail¬ 
ing crafts and whalers, and the sky was lined with 
masts. 

The passengers all crowded to the side of the 
boat and Mr. Carter had difficulty in keeping his 
little party together. The Captain roared his orders 
through a speaking trumpet, and the beautiful Grand 
Quai or dock was full of red-capped men, running 
to and fro to assist in docking the boat. 

Mr. Carter armed with Baedeker, explained to 
the children where the fortifications were; in which 
direction they could look for the light house and the 
beach. Over to the right was the great lock where 
the transatlantic steamers enter. 

“ What is a lock anyway, Daddie? ” asked Jack. 

“ It is a method of making a boat sail through a 
canal up hill. The boat enters a lock, a short sec¬ 
tion of the canal shut off by gates that can be opened. 
As soon as the boat is safely inside, the high gate by 
which she enters is closed. This dams the running 
water, which accordingly rises in the lock and floats 
the boat up to a higher level, the level of the water 
above. Then the boat proceeds on her way, perhaps 
going into another lock to reach a still higher level.” 

They were to spend that day at Havre and go on 
to Trouville the next morning. They had very little 
trouble with the courteous French Custom House offi¬ 
cer, and after a short delay left the wharf. Mr. Car- 



THE LANDING — HAVRE — CHANGE OF PLAN 5 


ter took them over to the hotel, a somewhat sub¬ 
dued family, even the twins being awed. 

“ Everywhere are mademoiselles,” said Kather¬ 
ine. 

“They talk too fast; why can’t they talk so as I 
can understand,” grieved Bob. 

By the time they reached the hotel however, the 
twins had recovered themselves sufficiently to call out 
their one carefully prepared joke. 

“ Cochon, cochon (pig),” they called in unison, as 
their cocher (driver) stood collecting his fare. 
Mademoiselle had to remove them forcibly. 

Later Mr. Carter and Jack went out for a walk 
to see the town. Mr. Carter had been sent over to 
Europe by his native State of Texas to study munic¬ 
ipalities and construction and government of towns. 
Havre was especially interesting to him on that ac¬ 
count, and he was glad that the long August day 
gave them time to look about. Jack, boy like, was 
always glad to be with his father, though it was the 
history of the place rather than its construction that 
interested him. He liked to moon along and im¬ 
agine himself back in the olden time. They re¬ 
turned for a late dinner, and Mrs. Carter expressed 
her disapproval: 

“ Robert, do remember that the French dine 
early.” 

“ It won’t hurt them for once, Kate, and we have 
had a great time. This is a wonderful old town. 
Those fortifications and quais are remarkable,” and 



6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Mr. Carter launched forth on an enthusiastic de¬ 
scription. 

“ We saw a lot of soldiers, too,” Jack broke in at 
last. “ Queer fellows with short baggy trousers and 
little hats and lots of gold braid. What did you call 
them, Daddie?” 

“ Zouaves; there are some regiments dressed like 
them, who fought in our Civil War. These French 
regiments are mostly used for service in Africa.” 

“ And, Mother, you ought to have seen all the 
queer birds and monkeys and things in the shops 
along the water front, and queer sailors with little 
red tasseled tammies,” added Jack. 

“ Robert, when do you suppose Miss Ford will 
come? ” began Mrs. Carter, at the first pause of the 
conversation. 

“ I fully expect her to-morrow morning. She 
was to come from Paris this evening and join us in 
the morning.” 

“ That will be fine,” said Alice, who was sitting 
back in a comfortable chair and appeared to have re¬ 
covered her usual good spirits. “ If only I could 
stay on with them instead of traveling around. 
Miss Ford is such fun.” 

“ Another time, honey. This time we can’t 
spare you. Your father is trying to make a con¬ 
struction expert out of Jack, and I must have some¬ 
one to go to the shops and be frivolous with me.” 

Mr. Carter said: “Jack and Alice, listen to me; 
I am going to give you each a twenty-franc piece 
and I want to see what you will buy with it. That 



THE LANDING — HAVRE — CHANGE OF PLAN 7 


will be enough for you to have, and you can spend 
it just as you like. You mustn’t ask your mother 
either. Twenty francs, that is a good deal of 
money; it must last through your stay in France. 
How much is it? ” 

“ Five dollars,” answered Jack after a moment. 

“ Right; now remember a franc is about twenty 
cents, and each franc is made up of one hundred 
centimes.” 

“ I am going to pretend each franc is a dollar made 
up of one hundred cents, then I will be awfully care¬ 
ful,” said Alice reflectively. 

“ Don’t say awfully all the time, Alice,” inter¬ 
rupted Mr. Carter. “ I’ll tell you what to do. Every 
time you want to say it, say “ affreusement ” which is 
very much the same thing in French.” 

“ That would be funny,” said Jack.' “ Thanks 
awfully for the money.” 

“ It’s “ affreusement ” nice of you,” cried Alice, 
and they all laughed and rushed over to kiss their 
father. 

The next morning Miss Ford appeared as they 
were finishing their cafe au lait or first breakfast, 
which usually consists of coffee and rolls and some¬ 
times marmalade or honey. 

Jack and Alice ran to greet her. She was a little 
slim person, with grayish-brown hair and jolly blue 
eyes, an English lady they had met and fallen in 
love with in London. 

“ It certainly is good to see you again,” said Mr. 
Carter, shaking her hand. 



8 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ I do not know that you will think so when I tell 
you how I am making changes in your plans.” 

“ You are not going to forsake us, are you? ” 

“ No, indeed, to be sure not. But I am going to 
run off with your babies to Mers, instead of staying 
here in dull, expensive Trouville.” 

“ Where is Mers, and what is it like? ” cried the 
twins. 

“ It is a little village between Dieppe and Calais, 
near Treport, and it is charming. I have just come 
from there. I have been staying at a pretty cottage 
with some French friends from Neuilly and they are 
so anxious for me to bring the twins and Mademoi¬ 
selle. Madame Roulet’s two little boys are about 
your age, master Bobbie, but they talk nothing but 
French.” 

“ O dear,” said Katherine. 

“ It sounds fine,” said Mr. Carter. 

“ If we only had known,” said Mrs. Carter, in the 
same moment, “ we could have crossed to Dieppe in¬ 
stead of taking this horrid trip from Southampton.” 

“ There are wonderful chalk cliffs at Mers, like 
the ones at Dover. And such a beach! and you will 
be there just in time for the sand carnival which 
takes place next week. O, I have it all planned and 
my French friends are expecting us.” 

“ Goody, goody.” 

“ You certainly are a dear,” said Mrs. Carter. 
“ It sounds delightful. Only it’s too bad that you 
had to come all the way down here to meet us.” 

“ O, I don’t mind. It was no trouble, I assure you. 



THE LANDING — HAVRE — CHANGE OF PLAN 9 


I thought perhaps you would permit me to escort 
them back.” 

“ That would be a sensible plan,” said Mr. Car¬ 
ter. But Mrs. Carter wanted to see the place where 
her “ babies ” were to be left, and so it was decided 
that they should all go up to Mers and from thence 
the travelers should proceed to Rouen. 

Mr. Carter then left them to repack while he went 
out to change the tickets. 



CHAPTER II 


FRENCH TRAINS — MERS — ROUEN AND SOME 
FRENCH HISTORY 

The trip from Havre to Treport and from thence 
to Mers took almost six hours. They found the 
French compartment trains very strange and the 
three classes into which these were divided appealed 
to Mrs. Carter more than to the others. They were 
surprised to find that one could not get from one com¬ 
partment to the other. A long narrow piazza, as 
Alice called it, was attached to the side of the car, 
and on this the guard (conductor) passed to and 
fro on his duties. 

The railroad followed the sea for some time and 
then branched off into the rolling Norman country. 
The children sat with their eyes fairly glued to the 
windows. The towns they passed, the little stations 
they went through, were all so different from places 
at home. 

“ The train sounds like a rooster,” said Alice, 
when they stopped at the first station, accompanied 
by the peculiar, inhuman shriek of the French en¬ 
gine. 

“ It certainly does,” said her father. “ But look 
at all those nice blue-frocked peasants there; and 
Jack, just see those splendid big Norman horses.” 

“ .Where are all the men ? ” asked Alice, after they 
10 


FRENCH TRIANS — MERS — ROUEN 


ii 


had traveled for some distance. “ There are women 
working in the fields, and women working in the 
rivers, but I don’t see the men.” 

“ Those women are washing their clothes in the 
streams,” said Miss Ford. “ So, of course, the men 
would not be there. But it is quite surprising really 
not to have seen more men. The French are very 
odd, you know, but so lovable.” 

At Dieppe they had to change, and again at Tre- 
port, and it was a tired party that finally arrived at 
Mers in time for a late supper. They drove through 
the village towards the chalk cliffs standing out 
white and perpendicular, like a great wall. Then 
their road turned sharply up the hill, and they stopped 
in front of a gray house, one of a little group. 

Monsieur and Madame Roulet received them 
with great hospitality, and seemed delighted with 
the twins. The two French boys, Louis and Leon, 
were a bit shy, but soon were won over by the joyous 
good nature of Bob and Katherine. They all had 
dinner together and discussed the details of the next 
two months. The Roulets were delighted to have 
someone to share the expense of the cottage, and 
especially glad to have Louis and Leon make some 
American friends. 

After dinner Mr. and Mrs. Carter went down to 
a near-by hotel, taking Jack and Alice, for there 
was not room for all at the cottage. 

They spent the evening in consulting guide books 
and railway guides. They were to start early the 
next afternoon, and hoped to spend the morning on 



iz WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


the beach. Mr. Carter wanted to go to the larger 
cities for his business, but also wished to take in 
the smaller places of interest on the way. 

“ We will go to Rouen, Rheims, Paris, Chartres, 
Mont St. .Michel, Orleans, then down to Touraine. 
The rest can be decided later.” 

“ It really is lovely here,” said Mrs. Carter. “ I 
am sure Trouville would not have been so nice. We 
surely must try to see all we can to-morrow before 
we go.” 

“ I wish I were going to stay here, too,” said 
Alice. 

“ You will have a good time, never fear,” an¬ 
swered her father. 

The next morning Alice rushed to her window 
to look out at the white beach and blue water. She 
could see many quaint-looking fishing boats drawn 
up on the sand in the distance, and a number of bare¬ 
legged men were wandering about. 

She and Jack could hardly wait to go on the 
beach. But they were to breakfast at the cottage, 
so they did not have much time to linger. They 
were immensely interested in a man who was driving 
a herd of black goats over the sand. 

“Where are they going, Daddy?” asked Alice. 

“ I think he is probably selling fresh goat’s milk. 
Would you like to taste some?” 

“ Ugh! ” said Jack. 

“ I would, Daddy,” said. Alice. 

“ We haven’t time, Robert,” said Mrs. Carter. 

Mr. Carter thought they had, so he called to 



FRENCH TRIANS — MERS — ROUEN 




the goat-man and they all went to the beach, where 
the man milked one of the goats, and filled a cup 
for the children. It did not prove popular, how¬ 
ever, and they quickly proceeded on their way, wish¬ 
ing they had not been so enterprising. 

Such good things as they had for breakfast! 
the creamiest milk, the most delicious hot rolls and 
fresh butter! It made Alice wish more than ever 
that she were going to stay. 

Mrs. Carter, also, was getting depressed at the 
idea of leaving the babies, as she called them. 

“ I think I ought to stay with them,” she said to 
her husband. 

“ And leave me to travel with Miss Ford and 
Alice and Jack? ” asked that gentleman. “ No, in¬ 
deed, honey. This is our trip and the kids are to stay 
right here.” 

“ I am afraid they will be very homesick, poor 
babies.” 

“Homesick! Just look at them.” 

They had wandered down to the beach, whither 
Mademoiselle and the four children had preceded 
them, under Miss Ford’s guidance. At the moment 
Mr. Carter pointed them out to his wife, shrieks of 
joy came from their direction. The twins, each 
mounted on a donkey, were racing together, Alice 
urging on Bob and Jack urging on Katherine. In 
the distance Mademoiselle and Miss Ford, sur¬ 
rounded by a little group of people, were waving 
their hands in despair. 

On came the donkeys. Apparently the race was 



i 4 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


to end near where Mr. and Mrs. Carter were stand¬ 
ing. But it ended before; Bob’s donkey suddenly 
stopped, planted its forefeet in the sand, and Bob 
himself flew over the long ears and landed in a 
squealing mass in a little pool of water. Kather¬ 
ine’s donkey continued his career, although the two 
older children ceased their efforts and ran to Bob’s 
assistance. Mr. Carter brought the triumphant win¬ 
ner to a stop. 

“What are you children doing?” he asked a 
little sternly. 

“ Racing, Dad; Jack said boys could always go 
faster than girls, but I beat.” 

Bob had picked himself up and was now running 
towards them. 

“It don’t prove anything, Father, does it?” he 
called breathlessly. “ My donkey stopped ’cause 
Alice didn’t play fair — she made him. Girls don’t 
play fair.” 

“Where are Miss Ford and Mademoiselle?” 
asked their mother gravely. 

“ Over there,” pointed Katherine. “ They can’t 
run as fast as donkeys.” 

“ Did they tell you you could ride on the don¬ 
keys? ” 

“ Well, they didn’t say not to,” said Alice. 

“We didn’t ask ’em,” chorused the twins. 

“ I suppose you kiddies will pay for your ride, 
then,” observed Mr. Carter as the man who owned 
the donkies appeared on the scene. 

“ Oh, Daddy, it’s our last day together,” said 



FRENCH TRIANS — MERS — ROUEN 


Alice. “ We had such a good time. Maybe if 
you let Mademoiselle and Miss Ford ride they 
wouldn’t mind.” Miss Ford and Mademoiselle sig¬ 
nified their desire to remain on foot, but Mr. Carter 
finally consented to pay the donkey driver. Then 
they all sat down on the sand, and Mr. Carter, with 
Jack and Alice to help, and the twins doing their best 
to hinder, made a wonderful sand city, and he sent 
the twins to find shells and pebbles and anything 
that was interesting to put in it. 

Mrs. Carter watched them a little sadly as she 
thought of the long days of separation. She gave 
new instructions to Mademoiselle and Miss Ford. 

When the time for departure came the twins bade 
a somewhat tearful farewell to the rest of the party. 
They were consoled, however, by the two French 
boys, who went to the station with them. 

“ It will be a fine way for them to learn French,” 
said Mr. Carter, likewise rejoicing over Louis and 
Leon. 

“ If only Miss Ford will not spend too much time 
in the company of their parents,” thought Mrs. 
Carter, giving added instructions to Mademoiselle 
to watch them carefully. 

They rode third class, as the distance was so 
short and Mr. Carter wanted to know what it was 
like. The car seemed like a trolley, with its wooden 
seats, and low partitions. An old peasant woman 
sat near them, holding a large basket containing 
live geese, and a couple of somewhat dirty soldiers 
were talking energetically two seats away. Also 



16 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


two jolly, fat priests were sleeping and snoring 
peacefully. 

“ Altogether,” as Jack said, “ it’s a mighty queer 
bunch.” 

They were rather glad on the whole to arrive at 
Rouen, although it was in a driving rain. Mr. Car¬ 
ter saw them to a hotel, and left them to settle down 
for the afternoon, while he went out to take a con¬ 
stitutional, as he called it, and see what he could see. 

He came back later with a formidable bundle of 
books under his arm and a regular Niagara Falls 
running from his hat brim down his mackintosh. 

After he had changed his wet clothes, he sat 
down beside the table and announced that he was 
ready to enter the first class in French history. The 
children groaned, but he was firm. 

“ Jack, you shall be teacher, because you are the 
oldest, and you may ask any question you want, of 
anyone present. If you can ask a question which no 
one can answer, Alice shall be teacher. Now, be- 
gin. 

“ Haven’t we read something about Rouen? ” Jack 
asked of Alice. “ What do you know about 
Rouen? ” 

“ Why, wasn’t that the place where the little Duke 
lived? That’s a true story, isn’t it, Father?” 

“ I think so. What did he do here? ” 

“ Well, the men all did homage to him, when his 
father was killed, and I think the king imprisoned 
him here. And wasn’t it where the two little French 
princes were held as hostages?” 




mm 


■ 




A beautiful stone tracery — Cathedral at Rouen 








FRENCH TRIANS-MERS-ROUEN 


17 


“ No, Alice,” said Jack, “ not in Rouen.” 

“ Do you know who the little Duke was? ” asked 
Mr. Carter. 

“ Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, all 
he ever feared was doing wrong! ” quoted Alice. 

“ That’s all very well as far as it goes. Did you 
know that he was the great-grandfather of William 
the Conqueror?” 

“ Then he was a truly person? ” 

“ Surely. Of course I do not know just how 
many of Miss Yonge’s stories of him are true, but 
he was a very fine fellow. He took a hand in the 
building of St. Michel, too. Normandy is just north 
of Brittany, you know. Rouen is one of the largest 
of his cities. It was at Falaise, however, that his 
grandson, William the Conqueror, was born.” 

“ His mother was a beautiful tanner’s daughter,” 
interrupted Alice. 44 1 read about her in the His¬ 
toric Boys, and about him, William, the Boy Con¬ 
queror.” 

44 I wish we could have gone to Dives which was 
the place he sailed for when he started for England 
in —” 

44 1066,” came the chorus. 

44 Good for you. It was this same William and 
his knights who furnished the ancestry for most 
of the so-called French families in England, the 
fellows with French names, who claim to have had 
forefathers who came over in the Conquest. Some¬ 
thing like the way our numberless New England 
cousins have their Mayflower ancestors. But the 



x8 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Normans were not French, they were Northmen, 
and much more like the English themselves.” 

“ This is all old history, Daddy, there must be 
newer history.” 

“ Of course, but we must begin at the beginning. 
And it’s not the very beginning, either, for France 
has history in Roman times. Normandy and Brit¬ 
tany are mostly full of mediaeval history. Though, 
Kate, I never see the word Brittany without think¬ 
ing of * Matelot,* and ‘ Pecheur d’lsland.’ But of 
course the children are too young to read Loti. But 
how about Herve Riel, the simple Breton sailor?” 

“Who was he, Father?” 

“ You must read Browning’s poem about him, one 
of the finest ballads in the language. He lived at 
the end of the Seventeenth Century and as the poem 
has it,— Saved the fleet, honored France, loved his 
wife, the Belle Aurore. It was after the sea fight 
off LaHogue between France and England. The 
French fleet was trying to escape after a defeat, 
and the French commander feared that his enemy 
would get possession of what was left of the fleet. 
He was just going to beach his ships and set them 
on fire, when the common sailor, Herve Riel, 
begged for permission to pilot them through the 
bay of St. Malo into a channel and safety. It was 
a forlorn hope, but the French commander, Damm- 
freville, like a brave man, trusted his sailors and 
took the chance, and Herve Riel made good. He 
found the channel, and from the deck of the largest 
vessel led the rest to safety. And all the reward 



FRENCH TRIANS — MERS — ROUEN 


*9 


he asked for, according to Browning, was shore 
leave to go to see his wife.” 

“ Say, he was fine,” murmured Jack. 

“ Is there anything interesting about Havre?” 
asked Alice. 

“ Yes, but not particularly so to you. It is very 
interesting to me, since its construction is remark¬ 
ably good. But that isn’t what you want to know. 
Who knows anything about Harfleur, right next 
door to it? ” 

“ Didn’t Henry Fifth besiege it? ” 

“ Yes, Kate, and one William Shakespeare put 
into his mouth a very fine speech, ‘ Once more unto 
the breach, dear friends, once more.* Well, madam, 
you have helped us out again, and this is the 
end of the rain and of the history for to-night. It 
is too late to begin on modern France. Who wants 
to take a run before dinner? ” 

Both the children declared themselves delighted, 
and speedily followed their father and mother out 
into the wet, dimly lit streets. 



CHAPTER III 


SEEING ROUEN — ARRIVAL IN PARIS — AN 
ADVENTURE 

The next day Mr. and Mrs. Carter and the two 
children started bright and early to “ do ” their first 
French town. 

Their hotel stood close by the old clock tower 
which Alice had at once admired. “ See, there’s 
a cow on the face of it,” she cried in delight. She 
was fascinated by the small shops in the narrow 
streets. She wanted to go into all of them, in which 
desire she was encouraged by the proprietors who 
stood in their doorways with smiles of welcome, 
but she was restrained by her mother. 

Jack liked the big horses, high carts, and the 
peasants with their blue frocks. Mr. Carter was 
distressed to find that he could not always under¬ 
stand the French gentlemen of whom he asked di¬ 
rections ; nor could they always understand him. 
But on the whole they got on very well, as they 
walked through the gray old streets, and safely 
reached the Place de vieil Marche, where Joan of 
Arc was burned by the English in 1431. 

“ You didn’t mention her, Daddy, yesterday in 
our history class,” said Jack reproachfully. 

“ Right, Jack; I usually think of her in connec¬ 
tion with Orleans and Rheims. But after all, I 

30 


SEEING ROUEN — PARIS — AN ADVENTURE u 


don’t know but this is as intimately connected with 
her as any place. I didn’t mention, either, that 
Arthur of Brittany was murdered here by his old 
reprobate of an uncle, John, King of England.” 

Lunch time found them far from the hotel. They 
were very hungry, but fortunately discovered a de¬ 
lightful little restaurant, with a fat white-aproned 
proprietor who bade them welcome. This meal, 
they were told, was a “ fork breakfast,” in con¬ 
trast to the more liquid breakfast already con¬ 
sumed. 

The children faced the necessity of translating 
the names of the French dishes on the menu. Mr. 
Carter refused to allow them to eat until they had 
discovered for themselves what dishes they pre¬ 
ferred. Alice chose boldly, and presently found 
herself gazing wild-eyed at a plate of fried snails, 
while Jack, more cautious, ordered Chocolat, pain 
and beurre. These words he was sure of. 

“ The butter has no salt in it, Father,” said Jack. 

“ That is because salt is so heavily taxed here, 
my boy.” 

“ I wish they taxed it at home,” murmured 
Alice, who had taken some of Jack’s bread and 
butter. The bread came in long rolls, with lots of 
“ scrunchy crust ” as Alice said. The waiter seemed 
a bit worried over their slim meal; he looked with 
disfavor at the heaped up plates of Mr. and Mrs. 
Carter. 

u Les enfants ne veullent — ils du ' Ros' 
Beef'?” 



22 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Oui, du roast beef” cried Jack. 

" Et de pommes” added Alice, who was remem¬ 
bering phrases. The waiter beamingly departed, 
and presently every one was satisfied. 

“ Next morning we tackled our first cathedral,” 
wrote Jack to his chum at home, “ and it certainly 
was great. It was so big and high, with windows 
way up instead of where they ought to be. They 
call it the ‘ clerestory,’ because there isn’t any real 
story, I suppose, and you look right up to the roof. 
You have to pay a franc to see each tomb and each 
different window. It all smells queer, too, damp, 
stuffy and perfumey. Daddy says its the odor of 
sanctity. They don’t have pews, just high-backed 
wooden chairs with places to kneel on in the back, 
for the fellow behind. They kneel down lots more 
than we do. Out on the roof the gutter pipes finish 
off with the heads of devils and things that hang 
over the edge. The rain water runs out of their 
mouths. I don’t know why they have them on 
churches; maybe they ward off the bad spirits. A 
man who seemed to want to be paid all the time 
showed us round.” So Jack wrote of the delightful 
old sacristan, a sort of cathedral janitor, who led 
them about all the morning. Mr. Carter explained 
to Jack and Alice how those early builders invented 
the flying buttress, the half arch attached to the 
strong buttress on the outside, which enabled them 
to do away with part of the side walls and insert 
great stained glass windows. These by degrees 
were made larger and larger, until a beautiful stone 



SEEING ROUEN — PARIS— AN ADVENTURE 23 


tracery had to be built, in which the glass was in¬ 
serted. 

“ The Gothic arch is different from the early 
Roman arch; it is long and pointed. People say 
that it came at the time of the spiritual uplift and 
typified the aspirations of the people,” said Mr. 
Carter. “ You can see for yourselves the tall arches 
and spires.” 

The children were delighted with the long nar¬ 
row stone stairs into the gallery, built in the thick¬ 
ness of the wall. From here they could look down 
into the body of the church, where a peasant wed¬ 
ding was taking place in one of the chapels. It 
was all so old and mysterious; they felt a bit silent 
and awestruck, but gradually this wore away, after 
visiting enumerable chapels and tombs, each of 
which seemed to cost a franc to see. So when they 
finally were shown the embalmed heart of Richard 
Coeur de Lion, Jack burst out, “ Dad, if I see an¬ 
other dead ’un, I will die, too.” And they pro¬ 
ceeded out into the sunlight. 

They stayed three more days in Rouen. Mr. 
Carter went about his business of studying construc¬ 
tion and plan, while the rest of the family drove 
around in voitures, the two-seated carriage with 
its one drooping horse, and cheerfully shabby 
cocker, clad in a frock coat and shiny stove¬ 
pipe hat, which one meets with all through France. 
They took tram rides, also, into the neighboring 
villages, and climbed Saint Catherine’s hill, with its 
beautiful view of the city, and the Seine flowing 



24 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


peacefully toward the sea and away from turbulent 
Paris. As they stood on the hill, Jack called his 
mother’s attention to a distant speck in the sky. 

“ Is it an enormous bird, or what is it, Mother? ” 
he asked. 

Nearer it came and larger it grew until the 
boy cried, “ It’s an aeroplane! Oh, Mother, to 
think of coming to France to see one. Isn’t it a 
wonder?” 

Over the old city flew the monster bird, man’s 
creation, imperfect and wonderful. They could 
hear the distant whirring of the screws and the 
wings. It swooped down in graceful curves, and 
finally disappeared in the distance. 

“ If I could only ride in one,” murmured Jack. 

“ I’d be scared,” cried Alice. 

“ I think I would be afraid, too,” remarked Mrs. 
Carter. 

“This isn’t like being abroad, is it? We might 
be at home where we live,” said Alice as they walked 
down the hill. 

“ People live here,” said Mrs. Carter, with a 
laugh. “ They aren’t all dead-uns as Jack says. 
Your father has letters of introduction to some 
charming people and I know it will be pleasant to 
see how one can readily live comfortably in old 
chateaux and castles.” 

“ You seldom if ever see sights like that at home,” 
added Jack, as they saw some merry young women 
pounding their wash in the river; feet bare and 
skirts tucked up. The splendid, big horses and high 



SEEING ROUEN — PARIS — AN ADVENTURE 25 


carts were strange, too, and the friendly little peas¬ 
ants who drove them. 

That night Mr. Carter declared his business in 
Rouen was over, and announced that the next after¬ 
noon they would start for Paris. In the morning 
he wanted to take a last look at the “ dead-uns ” 
because, as he said, he had been interviewing men 
who were very much alive. 

“ And by the way, Kate, Monsieur Raoul, an 
engineer I have been talking to, has given me a 
letter to some people in Touraine; to a Monsieur 
Joliffe, who, he says, is a delightful old aristo¬ 
crat in Tours. I think those letters to de Tonville 
in Paris are worth presenting. He’s the man, Jack, 
who does those very nice horse and dog pictures.” 

“ Then we have that letter to somebody in one 
of the chateaux near Tours, Robert,” said Mrs. 
Carter. “ I want the children to see some real 
French life.” 

“They will; Monsieur de Tonville has children, 
I understand. Well, to-morrow night we will be 
in wonderful old Paris. It doesn’t seem possible.” 

It was late in the afternoon when the train pulled 
into the station of St. Lazare, in Paris. The Carter 
family stretched and seized their parcels and bags, 
which they passed over to the eager hands of waiting 
porters. A voiture was found, Mrs. Carter and the 
children got in, and Mr. Carter went off to identify 
his trunks and provide for their transportation to 
the Hotel des Saints Peres. The question of hotels 
had been a puzzling one, but Mr. Carter finally de- 



26 ' WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


cided on one recommended to him by some archi¬ 
tect friends. It was situated in a central position, 
near the galleries of the Louvre, and was moderate 
as to price. 

They had a long drive mostly down wide, clean¬ 
looking boulevards, passed the Church of the Made¬ 
leine and through the Place de la Concorde, 
where, as Mr. Carter explained, the guillotine 
had stood on the day when Louis the XVI was exe¬ 
cuted. They drove down the banks of the Seine 
with its many bridges, and so to the Rue des Saints 
Peres, past the school of the Beaux Arts, to the ho¬ 
tel. 

Here porters seemed to spring out of the ground, 
and their baggage was borne before them as they 
entered as if in triumph. During the discussion as 
to rooms and prices, Mrs. Carter and the children 
went back into the little garden court that divides 
the dining-room from the front of the house. 

After dinner Mr. Carter proposed a promenade 
en voiture. 

“ Not to-night, Robert; Jack and Alice are tired, 
and I don’t want to go without them the first night 
here.” 

“Nonsense, Mother, we’re not babies; Jack and 
I will have a fine time here. Please go,” said Alice. 

“ That’s the way to talk, kiddies. Come, dear, 
go with me to-night, and some other night we will 
take the children.” 

So with some misgivings, Mrs. Carter put on her 
hat and went downstairs with her husband, while 



SEEING ROUEN — PARIS — AN ADVENTURE 27 


Jack and Alice settled down in their rooms to talk 
and read. Jack had “ A Tale of Two Cities ” by 
Dickens, while Alice was less interested in 
“ Baedeker’s Paris.” Finally she threw it down on 
the table, and getting up walked over to the window. 
The little parlor in which they were sitting looked 
down on the court, dimly lighted, and people were 
going to and fro the dining-room. Alice watched 
them for a while and then a bright light from a 
room on one of the upper floors opposite caught her 
eye. A moment before that the room had been 
dark. In another moment the light was dimmed, 
but she could see plainly through the thin window 
curtains that two men seemed to be struggling to¬ 
gether. 

“ Come, quick, Jack, they’re fighting,” she called. 

Jack, whose mind was full of the bloody scenes 
of the Revolution, laid down his book and flew to 
the window. He half expected to see an aristocrat 
hanging from a lamp post amid the shouts of the 
populace. 

Alice pointed across the court. 

Jack, too, saw in the dim light the vague figures 
of two men, apparently in a struggle. The windows 
were open, but the children could hear no sound 
from the men. The noises from downstairs were 
too loud. 

Suddenly one of the men seemed to snatch some¬ 
thing from the other, and throw it on the floor. 
The other man threw himself more fiercely into the 
fight. 



28 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“Ought we to do something, Jack?” whispered 
Alice. 

At that moment a sudden breeze blew in the chil¬ 
dren’s faces and Jack saw a paper flutter down into 
the court from the room opposite. 

Jack, seized by an impulse, rushed down the 
stairs. His curiosity was aroused. He resolved to 
find the paper. 

He ran so fast that he got into the court just 
two minutes ahead of the two men who had been 
fighting. The paper had blown across the court al¬ 
most to his feet and he picked it up. He opened 
it and saw that it was covered with mechanical 
drawings and figures. It was evidently the work 
of some engineer. Then the two men hurried up. 
Their clothes were all rumpled and they showed 
signs of the struggle. 

u C } est a moi” (It is mine), they both said as in 
chorus. 

Jack held the paper in his hand and looked at the 
men before him. He was frightened. One of them 
was a large, round-faced, fair-haired man,— the 
other looked dark and fierce, with black mustachios. 

“ I will give you five francs for it,” said the fair¬ 
haired man in French. He spoke slowly and Jack 
understood. 

“ Is it yours?” asked the boy in English. 

“ Mine — Oui, mine ”— The man put his hand 
in his pocket as though to take out his money, but 
instead, he struck the other man a heavy blow, tore 
the paper from Jack’s hand and dashed away. 



SEEING ROUEN — PARIS — AN ADVENTURE 29 


For a moment the boy was stupefied. Then he 
started to find help. Some people were just coming 
from the dining-room. 

But the dark man evidently was not hurt. He 
had only been stunned for a moment by the force of 
the blow. He laid a detaining hand on the boy’s 
shoulder. 

“ Non, non” he gasped. 

Jack understood him. 

So for a moment they stood. Then the man 
pulled himself together. He fastened his coat, 
turned up his collar and walked slowly to the door 
of the office from which he could reach the street. 
Jack walked with him. He didn’t know what to do. 

The concierge at the door looked at them curi¬ 
ously, but said nothing. 

Once outside, the man hailed a passing cab, 
pressed one finger to his lips to indicate silence, and 
departed. 

Jack watched him drive away, and then trembling 
with excitement rushed back to tell Alice all about it. 

They agreed not to say anything unless they were 
questioned, but when a few moments after their 
father and mother returned Jack could not resist. 

His mother was very much disturbed and thought 
he should give an alarm. So Mr. Carter went down 
and spoke to the clerk. 

A man was sent up to the room on the second 
floor, but of course no one was there. 

The clerk finally begged him not to say anything. 
No one had been killed and apparently no one was 



30 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


the loser but the hotel, for some guest must have left 
without paying his board. But the next morning 
the mystery deepened for none of the guests had 
left and everything was as it should be. Mr. Carter 
was inclined to think that the children had fallen 
asleep and dreamed it all. 

“ But the concierge saw the man, Father,’’ per¬ 
sisted Jack. 

The concierge, however, denied it. He had seen 
nothing. And the matter was closed. But Jack and 
Alice often talked it over together. It was what 
they had expected to find in Paris — mystery and 
adventure. Was this to be the end? Jack hoped 
not. And as they drove on top of omnibuses 
through the crowded streets he was always on the 
lookout for one of the men. In every church or 
building he watched for them. Finally he came to 
think himself he had been dreaming. Neverthe¬ 
less, the faces of the two men, seen in the dim light 
of the court, remained fixed on his mind. 

In the meanwhile they became acquainted with 
some of the other guests at the hotel. Many of 
them were connected with the Beaux Arts, a school 
of art on the same street. They were busy, pleasant 
folk, informal and friendly. Mr. Carter became 
especially interested in an architect from Germany, 
who seemed to have been quite a traveler. The 
two men went off on expeditions on which Mr. Car¬ 
ter learned much about his especial line of work. 
Herr Berkmann sometimes came to their rooms, 
and one evening invited Mr. and Mrs. Carter to 



SEEING ROUEN-PARIS-AN ADVENTURE 31 


visit his apartment. The children, who had made 
friends with the one other American family there, 
a Mr. and Mrs. Redmond, with their children, Tom 
and Polly, decided to have a party in their own 
room. So the four young folks spent the evening 
together. Just before they parted for the night 
Jack happened to be looking out of the window 
when he noticed that the room opposite was well 
lighted and saw his father and mother there talk¬ 
ing to Herr Berkmann. So he was the man whose 
room had been the scene of the quarrel! 

Jack immediately became interested and decided 
to be more friendly with the German gentleman. 
Maybe he could explain the matter. Jack would 
wait and see. 



CHAPTER IV 


RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET — MONSIEUR JEAN 

One morning as they lingered over their bread 
and orange marmalade, Pierre, most attentive of 
head waiters, came up and in rapid French informed 
Mr. Carter that there were to be some special mili¬ 
tary aviation tests at Rheims that day — did not 
Monsieur want to go? Monsieur thought he did. 

“ Who wants to go to Rheims to-day to see the 
flying? ” he asked. 

“ I thought we were going to have gouter with 
the de Tonvilles this afternoon,” said Mrs. Carter. 

“I wasn’t going was I, dear? That’s only for 
the ladies. Suppose Jack and I go to Rheims and 
you and Alice go to the Tonvilles. Weren’t they 
going driving, or something? ” 

‘‘Yes — they were going to show us modern 
Paris.” 

“Shops and lingerie? No, no, dear. You and 
Alice go. We’ll go to Rheims. Pierre, a quelle 
heure pent on parlir pour Rheims? (What time 
can one start for Rheims?)” 

Pierre answered by disappearing and presently 
brought back a pocket guide. Between them they 
found a train that would reach Rheims at 12:30 
o’clock. 

3* 


RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


15 


“ That’s fine, Jack. We can take some lunch on 
the train and have a short time for the city and then 
to the field. I believe they fly at 3 130. If we can’t 
get back, we’ll spend the night there, Kate. Pierre,” 
he asked in French, “ how long does it take to get 
to the gare de I’Est? ” 

“ Not long, Monsieur. You will have a few min¬ 
utes in which to make your preparations. The 
voiture will be waiting and you catch your train with 
ease.” 

“ Good for you, Pierre. Come, everybody — we 
must take a bag in case we spend the night.” 

“ Oh, Daddy, it’s perfectly bully,” cried Jack, 
and he and his father hurried up the stairs to their 
rooms. 

Alice and Mrs. Carter started slowly after them. 

“Would you like to go, Alice?” asked her 
mother. 

“ I think I’d rather have the drive and gouter 
with the de Tonvilles.” 

“ I don’t know but I would, too. Anyway, I 
must go, for we have promised.” 

“ You will let us know if you decide to spend the 
night, Robert? ” asked Mrs. Carter as her husband 
kissed her good-by. 

“ Surely, dear — but we are pretty sure to. 
Rheims is a most interesting city. How would you 
like to join us there to-morrow? ” 

“ I am anxious to see a little more of Paris. I 
think Alice and I will stay here. Now do hurry, 
or you’ll miss the train. Good-by — good-by.” 



34 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Mr. Carter and Jack hurried downstairs, armed 
with camera and field glass and a small valise. 

The voiture was waiting and Pierre helped them 
in. 

“ Gave de VEst ” he told the driver and they were 

off. 

They had a long drive before them and Mr. 
Carter took out his pocket map as they crossed the 
bridge and drove past the Louvre, and pointed out 
to Jack some of the places of interest — the Theatre 
de la Gaite, the Port St. Denis, the prison St. La- 
zare, famous in the French Revolution, and then 
the station. 

“ Shall it be second or third, Jack, my boy? It’s 
a short ride; let’s go third — or no — I believe 
we’ll be stylish to-day. We might meet someone 
who was going to the field and could help us.” 

Accordingly they rode first. 

“Now, Jack, here’s the Baedeker; you read to 
me about Rheims.” 

It was not yet time for the train to go, and they 
sat down on opposite sides of the compartment so as 
to cover two windows. 

“ Rheims, one of the most historically interesting 
cities in France, seat of an archbishopric —” began 
Jack. 

“ You surely remember the Cardinal Lord Arch¬ 
bishop of Rheims,” interrupted Mr. Carter. 

“ Why, but that is pronounced differently — it 
rhymes with dreams — is it the same place? ” 

“Surely — and ‘The Jackdaw sat on the Cardi- 



RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


35 


nal’s chair/ and stole the cardinal’s ring in the 
Episcopal palace here at Rheims.” 

“ Isn’t that funny! ” 

“ Now go on and tell me some more.” 

At that moment the door of the compartment was 
opened and two gray-haired, military-looking gen¬ 
tlemen entered. They sat down together and talked 
rapidly in French, and Mr. Carter’s mind wandered 
from the glories of Rheims while he involuntarily 
listened. They were evidently bound for the avia¬ 
tion meet, too, for their talk was all of aeroplanes 
and monoplanes and Antoinettes and Bleriots. They 
seemed to be quarreling violently and Jack abruptly 
ceased reading, but his father reassured him. Ev¬ 
ery other minute one of them would go to the win¬ 
dow and look out. At last, just as the train was 
ready to start, a third gentleman rushed up, evidently 
expected by the other two. What was Mr. Carter’s 
delight when he recognized his friend Monsieur de 
Tonville, the artist. 

“ Ah, Monsieur,” he said in French, “ you did 
not remain at home to welcome your American 
friends? ” 

“ No, Monsieur,” answered Monsieur de Ton¬ 
ville. “ I left my wife to entertain the ladies and 
myself went forth to guide the gentlemen of the 
family on the field. For I presume you are going 
there.” 

“ We are, Monsieur. Jack, you have met Mon¬ 
sieur de Tonville?” 

“ Assurement (Surely). Bonjour } Monsieur 



36 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Jacques. And now, Monsieur Carter, may I present 
my friend, Monsieur le Colonel Noir and Monsieur 
le Generale Blanche.” 

The three gentlemen bowed and exchanged the 
proper civilities. Jack was also presented and very 
shyly bowed. 

“ Monsieur Noir has come all the way from 
Provence; he is one of those most interested in to¬ 
day’s doings — for his son is a contestant,” said de 
Tonville. 

“ And you are the special artist at the front,” 
laughed Mr. Carter. 

“ Exactly. Monsieur Blanche is an enthusiast and 
goes to every aviation meet. He is an expert.” 

“ O, no, Monsieur, you do me too much honor. 
It is Monsieur Noir who knows, for his son Jean is 
to make one of the most hazardous trials to-day — 
that of ascending in his Antoinette with two passen¬ 
gers — a difficult feat, for the Antoinette is better 
adapted for long and rapid flight. Monsieur Jean 
is a pupil of Monsieur Latham.” 

Jack sat by his window listening, but understand¬ 
ing little of the talk. Even his father sometimes 
found himself at a loss as the three eager Frenchmen 
discussed the affair. 

Presently they reached Rheims. 

Monsieur de Tonville advised the Carters to go to 
the Cathedral. “ But do not be late at the field,” he 
added. “ Be there by three and present this card 
at the entrance to the field — at the north entrance. 
The gate-keeper will show you where we are and 




was not flying just to amuse spectators 






















































































































































. 

































RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


37 


you can meet some of our French officers. After¬ 
wards you must have gouter with us at the club. 
You will?” 

“ Indeed, yes,” answered Mr. Carter, and then 
they parted. The three Frenchmen went off in a 
waiting automobile and Mr. Carter and Jack took 
one of the inevitable voitures and bade the man 
drive to the Cathedral. 

Jack was deeply impressed by the beautiful old 
church, and his father called his attention to some 
of the ways in which it differed from the Cathedral 
at Rouen. 

“ You remember how high that seemed? Four 
stories of columns and clerestory — but this is really 
higher. You remember the stained glass, and the 
double aisles of columns? This interior is much 
simpler, but here you see the wealth of carving. 
Do you notice that the glass in the lower windows 
here gives more light and is less rich than above? 
It is modern! The old glass was finer and darker. 
In Rouen the three towers were odd, and of differ¬ 
ent size — that you will see at Chartres, which I 
understand is the purest of French Gothic. We 
haven’t really time to study this one — only remem¬ 
ber that almost all the kings of France were crowned 
here. And that it was here that Jeanne d’Arc 
brought her kings to be crowned.” 

“ Why don’t we have cathedrals in America, 
Daddy?” asked the boy. 

“We do — only they are not like these. These 
took centuries to build and, furthermore, were made 



38 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


by men who put their heart into it. Every meanest 
workman loved his job. They are hand-made, Jack, 
not machine-made, if you know what I mean. 

“ People don’t take the time and they lack the 
love to make glass like that for churches nowadays 
in America. Nor do they spend a lifetime carving 
one statue for the top of a cathedral tower. You 
have seen some beautiful church windows at home, 
but they are like fine paintings — not like stained 
glass.” 

They sat down on the stiff wooden chairs, silent. 
The incense was burning before the high altar and 
seven candles shed a soft light. Through the glori¬ 
ous windows the sunbeams came and colored the 
gray old stones with many-colored brilliance. A 
few peasants were kneeling at one of the little side 
chapels, telling their beads. 

Jack felt as if he were far, far away from Texas 
and the church that he had known from Sunday to 
Sunday. It was so strange, so old — so religious. 
Somewhere in the boy’s mind came the words of the 
hymn, “ Ancient of days.” There was something 
in that great building that had been there from the 
beginning and would be there forever, so it seemed 
to him. 

Finally Mr. Carter got up with a sigh. “ It’s 
time to go, Jack,” he whispered, laying a hand on 
the boy’s shoulder. The two walked out silently, 
hat in hand. 

“ I wonder what is going on in the boyV mind,” 
thought Mr. Carter, but he said nothing even after 



RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


39 


the doors had closed behind them and they were 
walking through the brilliant sunlit square — for in 
France every cathedral has its place or square, 
and often a little park. 

They found a voiture and drove out toward the 
aviation field amid a crowd of others going in the 
same direction — autos, carriages, horsemen — all 
bound on the same quest. Jack with a sigh came 
back from the past to the contemplation of the most 
modern and most wonderful of achievements. 

At the north gate they presented Monsieur de 
Tonville’s card, introducing them as guests of Mon¬ 
sieur Jean Noir, and the soldier on guard instantly 
admitted them and pointed out to them the direction 
in which they were to go. The stands were crowded 
and hundreds of automobiles were lined up in places 
of advantage. It was a still afternoon, no breath of 
air stirred the clouds, lazily lying along the horizon. 
A dozen or more odd-looking buildings at the side 
of the field, “ called hangars, I believe, Jack,” were 
the stables, the houses of the monster birds. Half 
a dozen machines were already being put in readi¬ 
ness for the afternoon performance. 

At the rooms of the French Aero Club Mr. Car¬ 
ter and Jack met their friends of the morning, and 
in addition many uniformed gentlemen, charming 
and cordial. Monsieur Jean Noir, the famous young 
aviator, was there, and Jack’s pride knew no bounds 
when that gentleman spoke to him in broken English. 
“ Is it that you would like to go up in the heaven? ” 
he asked. 



40 


WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Indeed, I would,” declared Jack bravely. 

“You would dare? It is to be afraid.” 

“I am not afraid. I’d — I’d give anything 
to—” he stopped suddenly. He was aware that the 
hum of conversation had stopped. They were lis¬ 
tening to him and Monsieur Jean. Monsieur Jean 
took out his watch. It lacked fifteen minutes to the 
hour when the meet was to begin. 

“ Will you go up a little with me now at once, 
little brave one? ” 

Jack turned mutely and appealingly to his father. 

There was a moment’s silence as the two looked 
into each other’s eyes. 

Then, “ Run along, my boy,” said Mr. Carter. 

Jack said, “ Oh, Daddy,” and then hurried out 
with Monsieur Jean amidst the cheers of the men. 
They crossed the corner of the field almost at a 
run. Monsieur Jean’s great Antoinette was poised 
in front of the shed as if ready to fly. 

“ Vite, vite, un manteau,” called Monsieur Jean. 
A soldier brought a heavy leather coat, which fairly 
fitted the well-grown boy. Monsieur Jean told him 
where to sit — the straps were adjusted, and the 
attendant began cranking the machine. 

“ Hold tight, Jacques.” 

“ Affreusement tight,” answered Jack. Monsieur 
Jean laughed. 

“ You are un sport ” he said. 

And Jack held on tight, as the great throbbing 
machine slowly started. Clumsily it went over the 
ground until, gathering speed, it began to rise. The 



RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


4 1 


wind roared in Jack’s ears. So far, it was much like 
riding in a fast automobile. But then the great bird¬ 
like creature rose and rose, skimming over the field 
and Jack, daring to look down saw a distant multi¬ 
tude of upturned faces. He only looked once, for 
his heart gave such a thump at the sight that he shut 
his eyes for a minute. When he opened them again 
they were going so fast that he had but one thought 
— to hold tight. He was clutching with both hands 
and it was cold in the August sunlight. The wind 
whistled in his ears and his heart was pounding — 
yet somehow it was all glorious — immense. 

He didn’t know where they were going. He 
hardly dared to look at the great wings of the mon¬ 
ster, and the throb of the screw seemed to be in his 
head somehow. He felt as helpless as if floating on 
a cork in a great ocean. And then it wasn’t so cold, 
and the wind didn’t blow so hard and the screw 
grew quieter and a delicious sense of falling asleep 
in a swing came to the boy. The next moment a 
wild burst of cheers brought him to his senses. The 
machine alighted gently as a bird, and Monsieur 
Jean jumped from his seat and helped him to get 
down. 

“ Bravo, mon gars (youngster),” he said. “ You 
will go again, heinf ” 

Jack blinked a little. He was stiff, and it took him 
a moment to find himself. 

But then with flushed cheeks he thanked Mon¬ 
sieur Jean. 

“ It was the bulliest time I ever had,” he gasped. 



42 WHEN MOTHER tETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


At that moment Mr. Carter and some others 
rushed up and wanted to know in French and Eng¬ 
lish how he had felt. Had he been frightened? 
Was it like an automobile; what was it like? 

“ I think,” said Jack slowly, “ it was something 
like shooting the shoots at Coney Island and some¬ 
thing like winter on the prairies, when the snow has 
just fallen and you’re all alone.” 

“ Will you invite me one day, Monsieur Jack? I 
will come to your snow prairie.” 

“ Invite you — Oh! Monsieur Jean, if you would 
only come.” 

“ One day I will go across the sea — in my An¬ 
toinette.” 

“ Don’t wait for that, Monsieur Jean,” laughed 
Mr. Carter. 

u It is to come, Monsieur,” replied the young fel¬ 
low, seriously. Then he shook hands with Jack. 
“ One day we shall go together somewhere, riest ce 
pas?” 

And Jack as gravely replied, “ Come and get 
me.” 

Then the field was cleared and Jack and his father 
retired with the others to the seats especially pre¬ 
pared for the Aero Club. One after the other, the 
great bird machines rose in the air — four biplanes 
and two monoplanes. Jack followed Monsieur Jean 
and his Antoinette as it rose in the air with two pas¬ 
sengers, slowly circling like a great bird. 

“ The biplanes are steadier, I think,” said Mr. 



RHEIMS AND THE AVIATION MEET 


43 


Carter, but Jack was heart and soul for the An¬ 
toinette — his machine, and his friend. 

Upward they went, till the machines grew smaller 
and smaller, and at last were no longer visible, while 
the crowd watched breathlessly. Then there were 
other events — a couple of biplanes circled the field, 
but Jack sat with his eyes fixed, looking up. At last 
a speck, then another came in sight — two of the 
biplanes were coming slowly down — Jack sighed. 
Monsieur Jean was still up there — way, way up. 
Then presently a monoplane appeared — and an¬ 
other biplane. But still Monsieur Jean did not 
come. The men who alighted were half sick with 
fatigue and cold. Then at last a biplane appeared, 
and the crowd went wild with enthusiasm. There 
was only one machine left up in the sky, that of 
Monsieur Jean. They watched in silence now for 
the last of the contestants, the great Antoinette. 

“Can anything have happened, Daddy?” whis¬ 
pered Jack. 

“ He would be down if it had, my boy,” was the 
reply. 

All of a sudden, “ I see him,” came a shrill cry. 
Jack with his father’s glasses had discovered the 
black speck in the sky, descending slowly, carefully. 
Monsieur Jean knew his affair. He was not flying 
just to amuse spectators, but to show what a well- 
run machine could do. He had in his mind always 
the safety of his passengers. And now came a wild 
burst of applause as the machine landed. The three 



44 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


men fell down from weakness, but were assisted to 
the sheds. There were several other competitions, 
but for Jack the event of the day was over. He 
was glad when the little party left their seats and 
returned to the clubroom, where presently Mon¬ 
sieur Jean and his two passengers joined them. 

There was not much chance to speak to the hero, 
but Jack watched the older men surround him. After 
all he had had his triumph. 

Finally the great afternoon came to an end. Mr. 
Carter and Jack made their adieux and were invited 
to partake again of the club hospitality. Monsieur 
Jean called out au revoir to Jack, and Mr. Carter in¬ 
formed them all that he would make them welcome 
in Texas. “And if you cannot come so far, come 
to see us at the Hotel des Saints Peres in Paris.” 

It was so late that Mr. Carter decided not to 
return to Paris — also, Jack was tired out. He 
hardly spoke a word during supper and mooned 
around afterward while Mr. Carter read guide 
books, after telegraphing to Mrs. Carter: “Avi¬ 
ation fine — Jack flew — glad we came — return 
Paris to-morrow. Robert C.” 



CHAPTER V 


THE DE TONVILLES-SEEING PARIS WITH 

MONSIEUR JEAN 

In the meanwhile Alice and her mother had gone 
to the de Tonvilles. They lived in a delightful 
apartment right over which was Monsieur de Ton- 
ville’s studio. Mrs. Carter was greatly pleased with 
the massive, carved-wood door of the house. They 
were admitted by the concierge, a person of great 
importance who lives on the ground floor. Then 
they ascended “ au Premier *' two flights up, where 
they found Madame with her two children, Roger 
and Louise, awaiting them in the salon. They were 
all to go out together in an automobile to see the 
sights of Paris. 

They drove down the noble avenue of the Champs 
Elysees, with its trees and little parks on either side, 
its beautiful statues and crowds of people, to the 
Place de l’Etoile, place of the star, the points of 
which lead off into stately avenues. In the center 
stands the Arc de Triumph, facing the Champs Ely¬ 
sees and with its back to the avenue of the Grande 
Armee; white and splendid and adorned with tri¬ 
umphal statues. 

They drove through the parkway of the Bois de 
Boulogne, celebrated as the favorite drive of the 
aristocracy and beau monde of Paris. Here were 
45 


4 6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


crowds of automobiles, of carriages, all hurrying, 
all gay; and now and then some tourist in a hired 
fiacre would break the line and disturb the sparkling 
monotony of fashionable vehicles. 

Then, swiftly passing through the gates they went 
out to Versailles, palace and park of the later 
kings of France. It was very beautiful and mag¬ 
nificent. Madame de Tonville and Mrs. Carter 
gazed enthusiastically at the great shining halls and 
on the charming woods and gardens, living over 
again the scenes of the Revolution. They seemed 
to see the beautiful Queen Marie Antoinette, first 
living gayly in the splendor of her early days, later 
holding at bay the fierce mob from Paris. 

Alice, Roger and Louise were trying to make each 
other understand. They were laughing merrily at 
their own mistakes. They seemed to have known 
each other for years. Roger was a student at an Eng¬ 
lish school near Paris, while Louise was preparing to 
enter a fashionable pension the following year. 
They admitted that they were somewhat behind in 
their studies and so had returned to Paris earlier 
than usual. 

“ Of course no one is in Paris at this time of the 
year; it is too hot,” they said. Roger was hoping 
that in a few years he would be able to go to the 
military school of St. Cyr. 

Louise listened in amazement to some of Alice’s 
stories of school fun at home. She had studied with 
a governess and the school she was to enter was one 
of the most exclusive. 



SEEING PARIS WITH MONSIEUR JEAN 


47 


“ But it is not as it used to be,” she said. “ Be¬ 
fore it was like a nunnery. Now we have games and 
gymnastics — and there is to be a monsieur to teach 
our singing, dancing and music. Before it was al¬ 
ways madame. But madame will of course sit in the 
room! ” 

“ How funny — why?” asked Alice. 

“It is more convenable ” (suitable), replied 
Roger gravely. 

“ Come, children — we must return,” called 
Madame de Tonville. 

So they climbed into the carriage and were carried 
swiftly back to Paris. 

It was almost too late for gouter , so Madame 
de Tonville persuaded her guests to remain to sup¬ 
per. 

“ Our gentlemen will be very late, I am sure. You 
need not expect Mr. Carter for supper.” 

“ Indeed, they will spend the night in Rheims, I 
think,” answered Mrs. Carter. 

The salon and dining-room were decorated with 
gilt mirrors and two beautiful candelabra stood on 
the dinner table. 

They went up in Monsieur de Tonville’s studio 
and examined his pictures and sketches of animals. 
Alice was delighted with them. Then Louise took 
her into her own bedroom and showed her the pretty 
furniture and chintz and dimity curtains and hang¬ 
ings. 

Presently they sat down to a delicious dinner, 
lacking, however, the inevitable American dessert; 



48 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


which was served by a neat, fine-looking French 
woman. 

Then through the summer twilight they drove 
back to their hotel, which was only a short distance 
away. The real life of Paris was just beginning 
as they returned home to go to bed, and the streets 
and cafes were thronged with pleasure seekers. 

It was several days later that Jack and Alice went 
to spend the afternoon with the two French children. 
Monsieur and Madame de Tonville had offered to 
take Mr. and Mrs. Carter to see the pictures in the 
Louvre — one time a royal palace, now a great art 
gallery. It promised to be a most delightful per¬ 
sonally conducted party, nevertheless the young 
folks decided to stay at home. 

Louise and Alice were entertained by Marie, the 
ancient and honored servant of the house. Roger 
and Jack sat up in the studio and discussed every¬ 
thing that lay within the range of their vocabulary. 
For Jack’s French was decidedly poor and Roger’s 
English not much better. Fortunately Jack under¬ 
stood more than he could talk. 

Presently there came sounds from below as of 
someone arriving, and up the studio stairs and into 
the room came no less a person than Monsieur Jean 
Noir. Jack was overjoyed. Monsieur Jean seemed 
almost as glad to see him. 

He enquired for Monsieur de Tonville, and learn¬ 
ing that that gentleman would not be at home for 
some hours, he proposed to the two boys to go out 
with him. 



SEEING PARIS WITH MONSIEUR JEAN 


49 


“ This afternoon is free to me,” he said. “ Let 
us go. I will show you Paris, mon ami Jack.” 

“Will it be all right to leave the girls here?” 
asked Jack. “Can’t they go?” 

“ They are with Marie,” replied Roger. “ We 
can go. I will tell Charles, my father’s valet.” So 
they went out and Jack was perfectly happy. 

Monsieur Jean was so handsome, so brave, so 
delightful. They walked down the Champs Ely- 
sees while Monsieur Jean discoursed*about Napoleon 
— how he had come as a boy to Paris and how he 
had conquered everything. He took them to the 
Arc de Triumph and explained the figures on that 
magnificent monument of triumph. He explained 
the name of the Avenue de la Grande Armee — 
the army that followed its leader through every¬ 
thing— which died, but would not surrender. Jack 
felt as if he were looking at one of these valiant 
men every time that they passed a splendidly uni¬ 
formed and helmeted policeman, riding gallantly on 
his prancing steed. 

Then, taking a voiture, they drove to the Hotel 
des Invalides — built for a soldiers’ home but 
known now only as the last resting place of the great 
genius, the leader of armies, Napoleon. There 
were hung the old battle-stained flags — there stood 
the guarding statues beside the marble tomb, and 
the golden light from the stained glass windows fell 
on the stately columns surrounding the dead hero. 

“He 'was grand — superb — magnificent — but 
O del, he was cruel,” said Monsieur Jean gravely, 



50 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


saluting the tomb of the ancient commander. They 
turned and went out. 

“ Let us go up the Eiffel Tower,” suggested Mon¬ 
sieur Jean, “ and then home.” 

From the slender Eiffel Tower, constructed of 
steel and erected in the Champs de Mars at the time 
of a world’s fair, they could look over all Paris — 
beautiful Paris — with the Seine flowing through it, 
under splendid bridges — almost at their feet was 
l’Ecole Militare, where the young Napoleon had 
studied when he first came to Paris. 

On the lie de la Cite, which divides the Seine, 
stood the Cathedral of Notre Dame, with its two 
square towers, famous in story — beloved by all 
Paris. And places of fresh green dotted the gray 
city, where were the gardens of the Tuileries, the 
gardens of the Luxembourg Palace, the Bois de Bou¬ 
logne and many others. 

“ O, how it is beautiful,— charmante” cried 
Monsieur Jean. “ There is but one Paris — so gay 
— so old — and yet always full of the fire of youth.” 

“ But there have been horrible massacres, and 
tragedies here,” said Jack, hesitating. 

“ Yes — that is the other side of the picture, mon 
petit . But Paris is well worth dying for. One could 
imagine a worse death. And there are no massacres 
now. That is all past and gone. But the glories — 
the traditions are here — they will never die. What 
matter if a few men die?” 

“ We are soldiers — we French — we do not fear 
to die,” said Roger. 




The Cathedral of Notre Dame 

























Seeing paris with monsieur jean 


51 


“ But that’s different,” persisted Jack. “ You said 
yourself, Monsieur Jean, that Napoleon was cruel. 
And so was the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and 
so were the awful executions in the French Revolu¬ 
tion. Why, there were massacres right here, on the 
Champs de Mars.” 

“ Peste, mon ami — have you nothing in your own 
history that is bad? I have read of Indian massa¬ 
cres.” 

Jack was silent for a moment. 

“ Yes, that’s true,” he answered. “ But I’ve just 
been reading a book about the Revolution here. Our 
Revolution was so different.” 

Monsieur Jean shrugged his shoulders. 

“ C'est vrai (true),” he answered. “ You Amer¬ 
icans, you can fight for your country and remain cold 
— but we — we French, when we fight we are mad, 
mon gars, but we are good fighters, n } est ce pas, 
Roger?” 

“ Mais out, bien sur } Monsieur Jean.” 

They drove along the drive on the Quai d’Orsay. 
Monsieur Jean was almost as full of Parisian his¬ 
tory as Mr. Carter, armed as that gentleman was 
with Baedeker. But he was careful on this return 
ride to go through the modern boulevards and 
pointed out cafes, palaces and stores. It was late 
when they reached Monsieur de Tonville’s apart¬ 
ment. The Carters had already gone leaving word 
that Jack might return alone en voiture. Monsieur 
Jean, however, volunteered to be escort and, as the 
voiture had departed, they decided to walk. They 



52 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


strolled along in silence for a while. Jack was ab¬ 
sorbed in his sensations of the afternoon, which had 
been many. Monsieur Jean whistled a gay soldier 
tune, breaking in every few moments to point out 
some place of interest. Suddenly Jack saw a dark¬ 
faced man come out of a door almost in front of 
them. He paused when he saw them — then, as if 
resolving that it was too late to retreat, proceeded. 
He saluted Monsieur Jean as they passed. 

“ Who was that, Monsieur Jean? ” asked the boy, 
when they were at a safe distance. For Jack had 
recognized the darker of the two men who had 
fought at the hotel. 

“ That is one of my mechanicians — he is em¬ 
ployed at the hangars.” 

“ Is he to be trusted, Monsieur Jean? I saw him 
one night, fighting with another man.” And he told 
the story of the struggle. 

Monsieur Jean laughed. “ They were fighting 
for a love letter, no doubt.” 

“ No, Monsieur Jean. It was some engineer’s 
plan, I am sure. There were many figures and draw¬ 
ings on it.” 

Monsieur Jean became more interested. He made 
the boy repeat his story. 

“ In what room did the fight begin? ” he asked. 

“ In Herr Berkmann’s room. He’s a German 
architect.” 

“A German, he in? — tell me, Jack, was the pa¬ 
per something like this?” 

Monsieur Jean looked about him. For the mo- 



SEEING PARIS WITH MONSIEUR JEAN 


53 


ment the street was almost deserted. He took a 
black leather case from his breast pocket and drew 
an envelope from this. In the envelope was a paper 
which he showed to Jack. 

“ That is the paper, Monsieur Jean,” exclaimed 
the boy. “ It is the same thing, I am sure.” 

“ That paper has never been out of my hands, 
Jack. It is impossible. It must have been like it.” 

“ The numbers and figures were the same,” per¬ 
sisted Jack. “ What is it?” 

“ It is a plan for a new kind of military aero¬ 
plane which I have worked out for the government. 
You must not mention it — jamais—jamais you un¬ 
derstand. You have not seen it. Nevertheless, you 
have seen it twice, it seems. And in the room of a 
German — Jack, I must see your German. I will 
come to dinner some night, heinf And maybe bring 
a friend. What will your father say?” 

“ They would be awfully glad to see you, I know.” 

“ Bien, I will come soon — soon.” 

“ And you will watch that man? ” 

“ Tiens — yes — though you said he fought for 
the paper. I think he is honest, Jack, but I will 
watch. Did he see you with me?” 

“ I don’t know. He tried to go back when he 
saw us — back into that house there. But maybe he 
would not know me.” 

“Are you sure that you know him?” 

“ I never could forget his face.” 

“Eh, hien — expect me soon to dinner. Watch 
your German friend and let me know if anything 



54 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


happens. Peutetre ce n’est rien ) mats enfin, il faut 
voir . (Perhaps it is nothing, but it is best to watch.) 
I would not that the German army should know of 
my plan.” 



CHAPTER VI 


THE TWINS AT MERS — THE SAND CARNIVAL 
— THE PROCESSION 

Meanwhile the twins were having a delightful 
time at Mers. Leon and Louis, who had been 
spending the summer there, knew the nicest places 
to play; and all the many French children were their 
friends. 

That first week the mayor had proclaimed a sand 
carnival and there was to be a prize for the group 
of children who should make the most attractive ob¬ 
ject out of the hard white sand. The children of 
Mers had been practicing through the summer. 
Nevertheless the twins decided to join the compe¬ 
tition, and Louis and Leon urged them to try with 
them. But the twins were proud; they wanted to 
make something exclusively American. As older 
people were allowed to assist, they were willing to 
permit Miss Ford to help them, however. 

They spent the two first days on the sand prac¬ 
ticing. They were not very skillful. Bob wanted 
to make a fort; Katherine wanted to make a bridge. 
Miss Ford thought that the fort was the best,— but 
Bob ended by making a tunnel. The fateful day ar¬ 
rived; and from early morning the beach was 
crowded with folk, big and little. 

Bob made a long tunnel and then Katherine and 
,55 


5 6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Miss Ford constructed two towers to stand at either 
end. “ It was a beautiful tunnel,” Bob told Madame 
Roulet, “ but it somehow didn’t seem to take the 
prize,— even though we had an American flag wav¬ 
ing from the tower! ” 

When they had finished, they walked around to 
see the things the other children had made. 

There were some wonderful constructions! Louis 
and Leon, with some assistance from their mother, 
had built a windmill. The wings seemed almost 
ready to blow in the wind! Dolls stood at the door 
and looked from the windows. It was beautiful to 
behold. 

Some older boys had made an automobile, which 
was big enough to allow two youngsters to get in 
it. Another group had made a model aeroplane; 
another a farmhouse, through which Noah’s ark 
animals paraded. 

Bob and Katherine acknowledged that they were 
fairly beaten. “ Why didn’t we make things like 
that? ” said they sadly. They considered Miss Ford 
somewhat of a failure. 

The mayor himself, an impressive gentleman in 
a uniform, called the children together and compli¬ 
mented them on their work. 

“ You will all be sculptors or architects, I am 
sure,” he said. “We have seen many objects of 
every kind here on the sand. They are all worthy 
of prizes — I wish I could give one to each. But 
I must bestow it on the beautiful automobile, which 
to my mind is the prettiest and most lifelike creation. 



THE TWINS AT MERS — THE PROCESSION 


57 


I wish also to make mention of a tunnel, a very fine 
piece of constructive work made by two little Ameri¬ 
can children. They are about the youngest to enter 
the competition. I am sure the boy will some day be 
a great engineer and build cities and tunnels and rail¬ 
roads.” 

“Does he mean me?” gasped Bob. “I didn’t 
think that we did anything so fine as that.” 

“ Hurrah I ” cried Katherine, and rushed over to 
Madame Roulet. “Did you hear that?” she 
asked. “ That was Bob and me! Won’t mother be 
proud when she hears we ’most got a prize? ” 

Louis and Leon were a little disappointed not to 
have been mentioned, but Mademoiselle consoled 
them by saying that doubtless the Americans had 
been named out of courtesy, since they were guests. 
And after all was over, the children, over a hun¬ 
dred in number, joined hands and danced to and 
fro on the sand, while a blind old man played on a 
fiddle. 

The twins thought this a most delightful way to 
end the day, and danced till they were fairly tired 
out. 

“ We do this almost every night,” said Leon. “ It 
is our way of saying good night to the sand and the 
sea.” 

The next day they went in bathing. There were 
funny little mushroom tents scattered all over the 
beach and each person was supposed to have one. 
The twins, who had been in bathing only once before 
in their lives, were perfectly happy. They wanted 



58 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


to stay in the water all the morning. But Madame 
Roulet only allowed a fifteen minutes of joy. 

“ To-morrow you can stay in longer,” she said. 
“ But for the first time it is enough.” 

The twins, who had talked French with Made¬ 
moiselle for nearly a year, were able to speak to 
the Roulets and understand what was said. And as 
practice makes perfect, they soon became almost like 
French children in their speech and appearance. 
They wore socks and pinafores and large straw hats 
and were very happy. Miss Ford was able to send 
back good reports of their health and happiness. 

On top of the great chalk cliffs was a level stretch 
of grass and wild flowers, and here the children often 
went to play games. Near the edge of the cliff stood 
a great statue of “ Our Lady of Falaise,” the patron 
saint of the neighboring fishermen. The children 
often played in the shadow of the statue, or dodged 
around it in games of tag. Louis and Leon had at 
first been a little shocked, but gradually became used 
to it. The sun was hot on the level fields and they 
were grateful for the shade. Louis, who was in¬ 
clined to be thoughtful, remarked one day, “ Our 
Lady protects us children by her shadow, just as 
she protects the fishermen.” 

Miss Ford was pleased with the idea. She wrote 
to Mrs. Carter that she could imagine no more de¬ 
lightful playmates for the twins than Louis and 
Leon. 

“ They are so bien eleves — so altogether satis¬ 
factory and quaint. I wish you could see them all 



THE TWINS AT MERS — THE PROCESSION 


59 


dancing on the sand beach every evening at sun¬ 
down. It is a lovely sight. The old fiddler plays 
the jolliest tunes; * Sur le Pont d’Avignon/ and all 
the rest of them. The twins act as if they had done 
nothing but dance all their lives. They bob up and 
down like rosy apples. 

“ Monsieur and Madame Roulet have grown so 
fond of them. They have been a bit homesick from 
time to time, little dears, but on the whole they are 
enjoying themselves hugely. And they are talking 
French as if they had been born to it. We all go 
in bathing and afterwards drink the warm goat’s 
milk. It is so healthy.” 

“ O, that horrid stuff,” remarked Alice, when 
Mrs. Carter read part of the letter. Even Mr. 
Carter was compelled to make up a face at the rec¬ 
ollection. 

One morning not long after their coming to Mers, 
the twins were called in from play and clad in their 
best clothes. 

“ What is It? ” they asked. “ It’s not Sunday — 
Is there to be another carnival or a party? ” 

“ No, indeed,” answered Mademoiselle. “ To¬ 
day is; the procession to the shrine of our- Lady of 
Falaise. There is a solemn mass for the souls of 
the dead fishermen.” 

“ Oh, a procession! Can we march in it? ” 

“ Assuredly. And you must make haste or you 
will be too late.” 

Soon the twins were ready, clean and scrubbed, 
and they ran out to find Louis and Leon and the rest 



60 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


of the family waiting in the garden. Everyone was 
dressed in their best and there was an air of subdued 
excitement and solemnity. Presently came sounds 
of singing from down the hill. 

“ It is the choir boys from the Cathedral at 
Amiens,” said Madame Roulet. “ They all come 
from far and near, all the priests and bishops — 
for this is the most solemn event of the year next to 
the season of the Passion of our Lord — and the 
Feast of All Souls. There are none of the humble 
folk here who have not lost a son or a husband in 
the terrible sea. Ah, it may look bright and blue 
and kindly on these warm summer days, but in the 
winter it is frightful. Then indeed do we need the 
prayers of our Lady.” 

The twins listened, their eyes wide open to catch 
the first glimpse of the procession. Presently up the 
white road came a choir boy bearing aloft a cross. 
Then came more boys, robed in white and purple, 
singing the Latin chants. Then came priests in all 
manner of gorgeous robes and finally a long pro¬ 
cession of village folk and summer visitors. 

“Do you see that fine old woman there?” said 
Madame to Miss Ford. “ She with the white ker¬ 
chief and headdress — Look, she has her hand¬ 
kerchief to her eyes. Her oldest son perished in 
last December’s storms. Ah, there are many here 
who mourn this day. It is no holiday procession, I 
assure you.” 

The whole family now joined with the townsfolk 
and proceeded up the hill to the grassy meadows. 




“ Wonderfully hideous ” 




THE TWINS AT MERS — THE PROCESSION 61 


The twins marched along in silence beside Louis and 
Leon. They were excited and somehow uncomfort¬ 
able. A brown-faced fisherman near them had tears 
running down his cheeks and it was not right for men 
to cry. Had not their father often told them so? 

At the shrine mass was chanted by the priests, 
while all the people knelt in the flowers and grass. 
At the ringing of the bell every head was bowed in 
reverence. Even the smallest children seemed to 
understand that this was a moment of deepest mean¬ 
ing. 

“What do they ring the bell for?” whispered 
Katherine to Mademoiselle. 

“ Hush, my child. It is the elevation of the 
Host. You cannot understand. Shut your eyes and 
say your prayers.” 

Then prayers were offered for many of the dead, 
by name, and sobs were heard from those who had 
lost their nearest and dearest. 

The twins were rather glad when it was all over. 
They could not understand what was sung, in the 
Norman-Latin, and they disliked the solemnity and 
quiet of it all. 

“ I’m glad it’s over, aren’t you?” asked Bob of 
Louis. 

“ No, indeed. You must not say that. It is for 
our dear sailors who have been killed in the sea. I 
think it is most beautiful.” 

Bob was a little disgusted to have his friend so 
unsympathetic. It was not until they had had a 
good race on the sand that he could quite forgive 



62 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


him. Katherine and Leon walked down hand in 
hand. They had been given two tall candles, by 
Madame, which had been consecrated by the Bishop. 
They were going to take them home and keep them 
in memory of the solemn occasion. 

One day Madame Roulet suggested a picnic. 
They got some of the peasant carts and drove across 
country to the farm on the estates of the Duke of 
Orson. 

Here was a long table under the trees and the 
farmer’s wife had the most delicious things to sell; 
fresh rolls and wonderful unsalted butter,— goat’s 
milk cheese, honey and chocolate, creamy milk, and 
fine white bread. The children ate till they could 
eat no more. Then they went in to see Marie, the 
farmer’s daughter, churning butter. Madame 
Roulet wished a glass of fresh buttermilk. 

“ It tasted awful sour,” wrote Bob to his mother. 
“ It’s the stuff that’s left when you’ve taken the 
butter out of the milk. You take it out with a churn. 
It’s wood and you turn it around. I didn’t like it 
but Madame says it’s healthful. I don’t like cheese 
either, ’less there’s lots of cream and sugar on it.” 

They were allowed to go into the stables to see 
some of the farm horses, great gray and dappled 
creatures, with braided mane and tail. The heavy 
brass studded harness hung beside them. Then 
there were the pigs to see, and the cattle, and finally 
they went to the weaving room where the maid¬ 
servants all sat and wove garments and rugs by hand. 
The bright threads fairly flew to and fro under their 



THE TWINS AT MERS-THE PROCESSION 63 


practiced touch. The girls were chatting and laugh¬ 
ing, their blue eyes full of merriment and their 
round, rosy faces dimpled at each merry jest. Too 
soon it was time to go home. The children scram¬ 
bled up over the high wheels of the carts and sat 
on the straw, while the peasants who drove them 
sang jolly folk songs, and cracked their whip as an 
accompaniment. 

So passed the happy days at Mers,— sunny and 
jolly. 



CHAPTER VII 


PARIS-VERSAILLES — THE LOUVRE 

Jack now followed Herr Berkmann around like 
a dog. He rather liked the big, good-natured man, 
yet he felt that he ought not to like him. Without 
doubt he was a spy and an enemy of Monsieur 
Jean. Three days after the afternoon they had 
spent together a note came from Monsieur Jean ask¬ 
ing to be allowed to call upon them with a friend 
that evening at the dinner hour. Were they to be 
at home? 

“It seems funny — not like a Frenchman,” re¬ 
marked Mrs. Carter. 

“ Monsieur Jean is a good fellow, Kate. Let 
him come and bring his friend. He was most kind 
to us at Rheims. He seems to have taken a fancy 
to Jack.” 

So a favorable reply was dispatched. All that 
day Jack was in a state of excitement. He hardly 
dared to leave the hotel for fear that in his absence 
Herr Berkmann would suddenly depart. 

At last came evening; Monsieur Jean and a slight, 
gray-haired priest, who was introduced as Pere Al¬ 
phonse. The priest proved a pleasant addition to 
the party — very intelligent and witty. They were 
soon laughing gayly. Dinner, however, was nearly 
64 


PARIS-VERSAILLES-THE LOUVRE 


65 


over, before Herr Berkmann came in and took his 
accustomed seat at a near-by table. 

Mr. Carter, who was feeling cheerful and hos¬ 
pitably inclined, immediately called over to him to 
come and join them. Herr Berkmann did so and 
was introduced to Monsieur Jean and Pere Al¬ 
phonse. It was late before the party broke up and 
Jack and Alice were thoroughly tired. They were 
glad when Mrs. Carter rose and left the gentlemen 
to smoke and chat, although Jack was anxious for 
some word with Monsieur Jean. 

It seemed, however, that Mr. Carter and the two 
Frenchmen strolled out, leaving Herr Berkmann to 
his studies, and it was midnight before the American 
returned, delighted with Paris, and the gay boule¬ 
vards and cafes. Jack, who had not been able to 
sleep, heard his father telling about it to his mother. 

“ That priest was certainly lively, Kate. If there 
is a spot in Paris that he does not know, I would like 
to hear of it. I think he is one of the most intelligent 
men I ever met. But how charming Monsieur Jean 
Noir is, don’t you think so? ” 

“ Indeed, yes, Robert, but it’s so late and I’m so 
sleepy.” 

The next morning Jack was surprised to find a 
letter at his plate. It proved to be from Monsieur 
Jean; just a few words, asking for secrecy. Not 
a word to anyone, father, mother or sister. 
“ Watch Herr Berkmann and let me know if he 
should take his leave. I will see you soon. J. N.” 

Jack could hardly wait to hear more. 



66 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


The days passed swiftly amidst the fascinations 
of Paris. Jack and Alice were never tired of watch¬ 
ing the people on the river front, and the little boats 
that passed under the bridges through the midst of 
the great city. It seemed so strange to them, to 
have an island in the center of Paris! They liked 
to stand on one of the many bridges over which 
they had to pass to get anywhere from their hotel, 
and look up or down at the other beautiful arches 
over the Seine. They were amazed at seeing horses 
brought down to drink and swim. It was like the 
cattle country at home. 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, on the City Island, 
proved a most popular place. From the garden at 
the rear many strange sights could be seen. The 
great building with its two square towers, its forest 
of slender flying buttresses, and its wonderfully hid¬ 
eous gargoyles, appealed to them strongly. 

They spent one day at Fontainebleau, where Mrs. 
Carter was at last delighted by the sight of some 
real trees. Jack pictured his old friend, Napoleon, 
sitting there in the palace, knowing that his days of 
glory were over. Then on another day they went 
to the oldest church in Paris, the great basilica of 
St. Denis, the burial place of so many kings of 
France, and to the “ Hotel Cluny,” with its delight¬ 
ful museum and art gallery. Alice’s favorite place, 
however, was the Saint Chappelle, built by Louis 
IX, St. Louis, and preserved for years as the royal 
chapel. The dainty pinnacles and wonderful walls 
of stained glass and tracery appealed to her as noth- 



PARIS-VERSAILLES-THE LOUVRE 


67 


ing else had. She even broke into her precious 
twenty-franc piece and bought some photographs. 
Later, on the same day, she was surprised to find 
that she had bought several things. Two francs 
were gone. She wrote carefully in a notebook, 

Handkerchief, 1 franc. 

Photo, 50 centimes. 

China animal, 50 centimes. 

Jack had already spent a franc on a photograph 
at the aviation meet. Also he had insisted on buy¬ 
ing some American soda water at an American drug 
store for Monsieur Jean and Roger, so that he had 
almost three francs checked up against him. 

Jack was very anxious to visit the Morgue, the 
outside of which he had seen, and the inside of which 
Pierre had described to him. 

But Mr. Carter promptly said 44 No.” 

“You didn’t like the 4 dead-uns ’ in the tombs 
in Rouen. I should not think that real 4 dead-uns ’ 
would appeal to you.” 

44 It is too gruesome to think of, even,” declared 
Mrs. Carter. 

44 1 think we will go to the Louvre instead,” said 
Mr. Carter. 

44 Oh, Daddy, do we have to?” 

44 Yes, once, anyway! you cannot escape it,” an¬ 
swered Mr. Carter. 

44 It’s so terribly big,” complained Alice. 44 If I 
were building a palace I’d build something small 
and pretty.” 



68 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ But where would you put all your attendants 
and servants? A palace has to be big and contain 
a great deal of room, you know. You have to have 
audience chambers and grand ballrooms. But the 
Louvre hasn’t been a palace for a long time. It’s 
full of pictures and statues and curios,” said Mr. 
Carter. 

Facing the great stairway, high as if on the prow 
of a ship, stands the mighty figure of the winged 
Victory. Heroic, full of life, of motion, she seems 
about to launch into space. 

The Carters stopped on their way up the stairs. 

“ I feel as if I could hear h&r coming, with a 
sound as if of a mighty wind,” said Mrs. Carter. 

“But where’s her head?” inquired Alice. 

“ It is gone, unfortunately. You know these 
Grecian statues were most of them dug from ruins. 
No wonder that some of them got broken.” 

“ Thank goodness they didn’t try to restore it,” 
said Mrs. Carter. 

“ I don’t like them without heads,” persisted 
Alice. 

They went first into the Salon Carre, where are 
to be found some of the most valuable works of art 
in the whole great collection. Mr. Carter allowed 
the children to pick out their own favorites. They 
wandered about until Alice suddenly discovered the 
lovely Madonna with the two holy children by 
Raphael. 

She was delighted at the colors and the little 



PARIS — VERSAILLES — THE LOUVRE 


69 


castle in the background. “And those darling 
babies! ” 

Jack had stopped in front of an enormous pic¬ 
ture which he was studying with great interest. 
There were so many people in it. Some of them 
seemed to be feasting in the courtyard. 

“ Is that a Grecian house? ” he asked, pointing to 
the columns in the background. 

“ Those look like Grecian columns, but the paint¬ 
ing is by an Italian, Paul Veronese. It has very 
wonderful coloring, Jack. That is one of the pecul¬ 
iar things about Veronese’s work. He likes, too, 
to put in little dogs. 

u The picture is supposed to represent the marriage 
supper at Canaea. But most of those old artists 
managed to put in so many of their friends and 
patrons in fine clothes, and dogs and other animals, 
that one hardly recognizes the Bible subjects. This 
picture was brought from Venice by Napoleon, while 
he was still a conqueror. You will see a lot more 
pictures by Veronese when we go to Italy.” 

Mr. Carter pointed out the place where the 
celebrated Mona Lisa, the portrait of a woman 
by Leonardo da Vinci, had hung before it was 
stolen. 

“ What good do you suppose it ever did the thief 
to get it?” wondered Mrs. Carter. “He couldn’t 
possibly sell it, when every child almost would recog¬ 
nize it. And how do you suppose he ever got it out 
of the buildings? ” 



70 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ I am afraid I cannot answer,” said Mr. Carter. 
“ It is certainly very strange.” 

From the Salon Carre they went through the 
hall of the older Italian school. 

Alice was very much amused by some of the earli¬ 
est paintings, much to the disgust of some artists 
who were eagerly studying them. 

They passed slowly but steadily through the 
grand gallery, which Jack said was full of queer, 
religious pictures and then were relieved by the de¬ 
lightful Dutch scenes and portraits. Mr. Carter 
called their attention to the deep, rich colorings and 
fine effects of light and shade. 

“ But I think I like those blue and green saint 
pictures in that queer church best,” said Alice 
thoughtfully. 

“What does she mean?” asked Mr. Carter. 

“ The Puvis de Chavannes decorations in the 
Pantheon,” suggested Mrs. Carter. “ The pictures 
of St. Genevieve.” 

The stone pavements got to be very tiresome 
after a while, and the pictures blurred into one mass 
of color. 

So they decided to put off the modern pictures till 
another day. 

“ The Millet peasants will have to wait,” said 
Mrs. Carter. 

“ And the Venus de Milo, too,” said Mr. Carter. 
“ You know you kiddies have often seen pictures 
of her.” 

“ She hasn’t any arms, has she? ” asked Jack. 



PARIS — VERSAILLES — THE LOUVRE 


7 t 


“ But her head is so beautiful, at least in the pic¬ 
tures, n said Alice. “ I would like to come and see 
her some other day.” 

Mr. Carter was anxious to see one of the sights 
of Paris, that was the great sewers, those enormous 
tubes which pierce the foundations of the city, and 
through which one can pass in a boat. He had read 
of the escape through them of one Jean Val Jean 
in a book by Victor Hugo. Jack wanted to go, too, 
but his father finally refused to take him, and went 
with Herr Berkmann. 

“ I am glad you did not go,” he said afterwards. 
“ If I had had you to take care of, too, I think I 
would have had a real fit of nerves. It was really 
horrible, so dark and clammy, with only the torches 
to guide us. It was like living one of Poe’s ghastly 
tales.” 

“ Let us go to Versailles this afternoon to take 
the taste out,” suggested Mrs. Carter. 

So they went, on top of a tram, which delighted 
the children. But Mrs. Carter hated going through 
the tunnels, and insisted that they must return in¬ 
side. Mr. Carter thought that they might drive 
back over the very road, as he said, that the Paris 
mob had taken when they went to demand bread 
from the king and queen. 

“ But we aren’t there yet, why do we have to 
talk about going home?” said Jack. 

Alice thought the palace itself too big and too 
much like the Louvre, but she admired the great 
silk-curtained bed that had been Marie Antoinette s. 



72 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Now I like the portrait of Louis XIV with his 
family on Olympus,” said Mr. Carter with a chuckle. 

In the rear the grounds are terraced to a splendid 
fountain, and then, as far as the eye can reach, 
stretch the park and gardens. They walked to the 
little, tree-shaded pond, where stands the “ Petit 
Trianon,” that royal farmhouse where the Queen 
played so delightfully at the simple life, and even 
churned butter to prove what a humble person she 
was. 

“ I should think it would have made them madder 
to have her pretend that way when they were starv¬ 
ing,” volunteered Jack. 

“ I fancy that’s about right,” answered his 
father. 

“ The palaces are dreadfully big,” groaned Jack. 

“ The Trianon isn’t,” said Alice. “ I like this, 
I think it would be fun to live here.” 

They drove back to the city through the evening 
light, and Mr. Carter described vividly some of the 
terrible days of the Revolution. 

The gardens of the Tuileries looked dim and 
mysterious, and the children felt sure that it was 
full of hungry men and women demanding justice 
and vengeance. 

“ The palace of the Tuileries has seen some 
pretty exciting moments,” said Mr. Carter thought¬ 
fully. u You children must remember it when you 
come to studying your French history. You remem¬ 
ber the Place de la Bastille, where we went one day 
on top of a ’bus? The Bastille itself was torn down 




Where the Queen played at simple life — The little trianon 













PARIS-VERSAILLES-THE LOUVRE 


73 


by the people in a frenzy of liberty, but it well rep¬ 
resented the tyranny of the old kings of France. 
Why, anyone could be popped into it without trial, 
just by the king’s say-so.” 

“ We rebelled for less than that in our Revolu¬ 
tion,” said Jack. 

“ That is one reason why it was marked with no 
such terrible deeds of violence as took place in the 
French Revolution. One can hardly blame them 
for being blood-thirsty after so many years of op¬ 
pression.” 

“ It must be awful to be starving,” said Jack after 
a thoughtful pause. 

“ Pray heaven you never may be, Jack. I came 
pretty near it once, the year of the great blizzard, 
‘ the white year,’ out on the ranch, when we were 
lost for ten days. But to starve in the midst of 
plenty, that is what turns men into wolves.” 

That evening Mr. Carter read to them a delight¬ 
ful account of Paris during the Commune in 1879, 
part of a journal of Madame de Hegermann-Lin- 
den. It described barricades at the Place Ven- 
dome and the slaughter there, the struggles in the 
Boulevarde Housmann and their experiences try¬ 
ing to save the family cow from the hands of the 
mob. 

“ This is new history, Alice,” said Mrs. Carter. 
“ The people who lived through those days are liv¬ 
ing now. Think of a siege with all its suffering 
right here in Paris. It does not seem possible.” 

“ The French certainly are an astonishing peo- 



74 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


pie,” said Mr. Carter. “ They have a feast of 
blood one day and of flowers and triumph the next. 
They are so gay, so triumphant, so sure, whether 
they are killing or caressing. Come, Kate, the night 
is yet young and as we leave for parts unknown in 
another day, let’s go out and fldner les boulevards 
(stroll on the avenue).’*. 

Half an hour later they were walking through the 
Palais Royal, full of shops and light, down the 
Avenue de l’Opera to the Boulevard de Capucines. 
It was all brilliant with lights, full of pleasure seek¬ 
ers. Little tables and chairs on the sidewalks were 
crowded with people, sipping the light French wines, 
eating delicious-looking ices and patisseries. Sol¬ 
diers in handsome uniforms, actors and actresses, 
young gentlemen in the height of fashion, tour¬ 
ists, all were there and all were enjoying the 
evening, and the gayety around them. Autos and 
carriages passed in rapid succession through the ave¬ 
nues and streets. There was sound of music and 
laughter. 

“How would you like to live here, Kate?” 
asked Mr. Carter, as they sat at one of the tables 
and ate cakes and ices. 

“ It doesn’t seem as if one could have a home 
here.” 

“ What, do you not call the de Tonvilles’ a 
home? ” 

“Yes — surely. I had forgotten it in all the 
noise and glamour to-night.” 

“ It is like every other large city — you don’t see 



PARIS — VERSAILLES — THE LOUVRE 


75 


the home life — you see the street life. They are 
quite different.” 

“ I think I like the home life best.” 

“ Of course you do, you dear home-pussycat. But 
don’t you like this, too? ” 

“ I do, Daddy,” said Alice, with her eyes fixed on 
some soldiers at the next table. Their uniforms 
were so handsome — their gilt buttons so attractive. 

Jack sat in silence. He was wondering when he 
should see Monsieur Jean. He had seen twice that 
evening the face of the tall, fair man who had car¬ 
ried off the* paper. It had only been a glimpse in 
the crowd, but he was sure. 

The next day they bade farewell to the de Ton- 
villes and left their address for Monsieur Jean. 

Jack wrote him a note which he posted secretly, 
telling their permanent address. He also spoke of 
seeing the man who had taken the paper. Herr 
Berkmann was still at the hotel. He begged Mon¬ 
sieur Jean to let him know should anything happen. 

The day after they left Paris. 



CHAPTER VIII 


MONT ST. MICHEL-AN ADVENTURE ON THE SAND 

— BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 

From Paris they went to Averanche, reaching 
there late in the afternoon. Averanche, situated on 
a hill overlooking the Bay of St. Michel, is one of 
the oldest towns of Normandy. Here Henry II 
of England did penance for the murder of Thomas 
a Becket — so Mr. Carter, instructed by his guide 
book, informed them. 

They were to spend the night here and go on to 
Mont St. Michel in the morning. Mr. Carter left 
the family at the hotel, weary after their day’s 
travel. He himself wanted exercise. So he pre¬ 
vailed upon an aged man to show him the Cathedral. 

When he joined the others for dinner he excited 
Alice’s envy by describing a wonderful modern gar¬ 
goyle on the Cathedral — with a stove-pipe hat on 
his head. She and Jack had been deeply impressed 
with the ugly gargoyles of Notre Dame — those 
strange, grotesque creatures of stone, half gutter 
pipe and half ornament. But a modern gargoyle — 
that was a delightful idea. 

That evening Mr. Carter proposed another class 
in French history. Jack, protesting, was appointed 
teacher. 

“ You ought to be able to ask some good ques- 
76 


MONT ST. MICHEL — BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 77 


tions, now, Jack,” said Mr. Carter. “ After our 
weeks of travel.” 

“ It’s just four weeks since we landed,” remarked 
Mrs. Carter. 

“ Come, Professor,” Mr. Carter said. 

“ Oh, dear me, there were so many things in 
French history. Tell us about Mont St. Michel.” 

“ That is rather an intelligent idea, but it isn’t 
a question.” 

“ When was it built, Daddy? ” 

“ That’s better. Some time in the ninth century, 
the Archangel Michael descended on to the top of 
the mountain. Of course he did not stay there, but 
pious people from all over France began to make 
pilgrimages in the hopes of seeing him again. A 
small convent was built, and later a magnificent 
one. This had to be garrisoned and fortified to pre¬ 
vent its falling into the hands of the English during 
the French and English wars of the fourteenth and 
fifteenth centuries. Louis XI — anyone know his 
date?” 

“ Some time in the middle of the fifteenth cen¬ 
tury, Daddy,” said Alice. 

“ Well, that’s near enough. Anyway, he founded 
the order of the Knights of St. Michel, who held 
meetings in the great hall of the Knights. After the 
French Revolution the government turned the old 
abbey into a prison, and some of it, as you can im¬ 
agine, was injured. Then, in the middle of the nine¬ 
teenth century, a more intelligent government un¬ 
dertook restorations. 



78 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ So much for outline; now let us go back to 
Bertrand du Guesclin, an old friend of mine, whom 
you read about in the White Company, on the 
steamer.” 

“Oh, Father, did he go to Mont St. Michel?” 

“ Just wait a minute. I hope I can remember to 
tell you his story correctly. There are lots of de¬ 
tails which you can get in the book I used to read, 
called 1 Cameos from English History.’ ” 

“ Du Guesclin was born in Brittany and his career 
is like one of Arthur’s Knights. He was always 
fighting, either for Brittany or France, and he seems 
to have been a model of chivalry. Whether in 
single combat or in a melee he was apt to come out 
ahead, and yet was such a delightful gentleman that 
even his enemies would send for him to dine with 
them on the eve of battle. He began his career by 
winning a wrestling match when only a lad. Then 
he won a tournament which he entered without giv¬ 
ing his name, and where he refused, out of respect, 
to engage his father in combat. His father, who 
had always treated him like a dog, was very much 
surprised and pleased by his filial respect. After 
that he went into fighting seriously, relieved the 
Siege of Rennes, and it was then that he dined with 
the English force, whose captain was captivated by 
his courage and wit. He was a very prominent 
figure in the Siege of Dinan, and it was at a duel 
which he fought there with one of his English foes 
that he met his wife, Tiphaine la Fe — she was 
called — for she claimed to foretell the future. 



MONT ST. MICHEL — BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 79 


He never believed much in her prophecies, but was 
very much in love with her, nevertheless. They 
passed their honeymoon at Pontorson near Mont St. 
Michel. This was somewhat rudely interrupted by 
the arrival of the English troop, whose commander 
challenged him to combat. I cannot tell you all of 
the battles that this remarkable man was in; his wife 
too seems to have defended his castle with great 
valor during his absence. Du Guesclin was unfor¬ 
tunate in an expedition to Spain against the cruel 
tyrant, Don Pedro, and was taken prisoner by the 
Black Prince in the battle of Navaretta. He was 
kept a prisoner for some time, but was finally re¬ 
leased in the most charming manner. The Black 
Prince — Alice, who was the Black Prince?” 

“ Why, Edward — the son of —” 

“ Yes, somebody’s son, but whose?” 

“ Edward the —” 

“ Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III, 
King of England, Victor at Crecy and Poitiers.” 

“ Right, Kate. Children, I’m glad your mother 
knows. Well, he told Du Guesclin that he could go 
free if he would swear not to bear arms against the 
English. 

“ ‘ I would rather die in prison,’ said Du Gues¬ 
clin. 

“ ‘ Then fight as you will, but you must pay a 
ransom.’ 

“ ‘ I haven’t any money,’ said Du Guesclin. 

u ‘ Fix the sum yourself,’ replied the Black Prince. 

“ * I’m a pretty valuable person,’ said Du Gues- 



8o WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


clin. 4 1 cannot rate myself at less than one hundred 
thousand double crowns of gold.’ 

44 4 You’re laughing at me,’ answered his captor. 
4 It’s a king’s ransom. I will let you off for a quar¬ 
ter of it.’ 

44 Finally it was fixed for a slightly lower sum, 
though Bertram considered this in the nature of a 
slight. He had not much hope of obtaining it any¬ 
way, but his friends came valiantly to his aid, al¬ 
though he used to give away portions of the money 
raised to poor pensioners. His wife seems to have 
been very much like him. She collected a large sum 
of money, but instead of helping pay his debt, she 
used it to raise a company of men, much to the de¬ 
light of Du Guesclin, who at once assumed command. 
Later Du Guesclin was made constable of France. 
He had built a house for his wife at Mont St. 
Michel, where she had stayed during his various 
fighting expeditions. Now, however, he lived with 
her at Caen. The English, in the meantime, had 
taken possession of Brittany, but Du Guesclin re¬ 
conquered it, for the Bretons. Then he started a 
campaign in Guienne, but there he died, at the siege 
of the castle Chateau-Neuf-Raudon. The English 
commander had promised to surrender to him on 
a certain day, but Du Guesclin died of a fever be¬ 
fore that day. So the Englishman refused to sur¬ 
render to anyone else, and insisted on laying his 
sword and the city keys on the bier of the dead 
hero. Such, in brief, was Du Guesclin. His story 
is interwoven with the story of the invasion of 



MONT ST. MICHEL-BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 8 


France and all of Brittany about us. Now, does 
anyone know the kings of France? ” 

Even Mrs. Carter shook her head. 

“ I don’t, either. But I don’t think it very im¬ 
portant, there were so many of them. Just tell me 
this, somebody, Who was king of France at the time 
of Du Guesclin, and the Black Prince?” 

There was an ominous silence. 

“Must I answer that myself? Well, I have an 
idea it was two or three kings. Philip VI, Jean, 
and Charles V. You see, there were a lot of them, 
for Edward III was king of England during these 
three reigns. It was Charles VI who opposed 
Henry V at Harfleur. 

“Any more questions, Jack?” 

“ Daddy, I’m too sleepy. Can’t we put it off? ” 

“ All right, son. Go to bed and pleasant dreams 
to you.” 

Early the next morning they took the train to 
Pontorson and from thence the tram across the 
causeway to Mont St. Michel. 

The long, straight white road stretched over the 
sand from the mainland to the island where towered 
the battlemented abbaye. 

“ We should all be on chargers, Father,” said 
Jack. “ This old car seems out of place.” 

Mont St. Michel rose high above them, the exact 
spot, the driver explained, where, in the ninth cen¬ 
tury, St. Michael himself had descended. And al¬ 
most as far as they could see stretched the sand. 

Mr. Carter had timed their visit carefully so that 



82 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


they might be there to witness one of the highest 
tides. 

They left their bags at the little hotel and started 
on a tour of inspection at once. 

A long flight of stairs led up to the great gray 
fortifications above, and indeed most of the 
streets led straight up, steeply, and ended there. 
The buildings were in good repair and seemed filled 
to overflowing with romantic histories. 

Down into the dungeons they were led, where 
hideous wax figures represented bygone horrors — 
far worse than any offered by the Eden Musee. 
Jack grew very quiet and subdued and hurried back 
up the old stone stairs as fast as possible. He pre¬ 
ferred the battlements and walks along the terraces 
and platforms, where one could see the sands stretch¬ 
ing away to the sea, or look up at the stern old 
granite abbey, La Merveille, towering above the 
sheer descent of rock. Mr. Carter, armed with a 
pocket guide, reminded them that it was here that 
their old hero, Du Guesclin, had built the house for 
his wife, Tiphaine. 

They wandered through the vast Salle des Chev¬ 
aliers, where the knights of the order of St. Michel 
were wont to meet, and through the Norman 
arched refectoire, where the monks had held sway 
before the old fortress abbey had been turned into 
a prison by a Republican government after the 
French Revolution. 

“ Fortunately, to-day it is in the possession of a 
commission of restoration,” Mrs. Carter said. 



MONT ST. MICHEL — BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 83 


“ One wonders there is anything left of it, where so 
many have occupied it.” 

“ Not to mention the attacks and sieges it has 
endured.” 

Mr. Carter then told them the grim story of the 
company of English soldiers swallowed by the quick¬ 
sands, after a fierce battle on the sands. 

“ But, Daddy, there are people walking there on 
the sand,” said Alice. 

“ It is not all quicksands. There are many places 
that are perfectly safe, but you have to have a 
guide,” answered her father. 

“ Oh, can’t we go? ” 

“ Why, I think so, right after lunch. But first 
we must see if Madame Poulard’s wonderful omelets 
and chicken are as wonderful as Baedeker would 
have you think.” 

They went to the hotel and Mrs. Carter, with 
the children, went to prepare for lunch, while Mr. 
Carter ordered his chicken and omelet in person. 
Indeed, he stayed to watch the preparation of it, 
standing before the great fire, while the chicken 
turned and sputtered before him on the spit. 

Directly after lunch a guide was obtained who 
bade them hasten, if they would walk on the sands. 
“ At four the water returns,” he added significantly. 

“Is it high tide then?” asked Jack. 

“ You wait, Jacky, my boy, I am told it is worth 
crossing the ocean to see it from the battlements.” 

“ I think I won’t go,” Mrs. Carter said. “ Sand 
is sand, after all.” 



84 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Mother’s afraid,” laughed Alice. 

“ Indeed, do you think I would let you all go if 
I thought there were danger, Miss Alice?” asked 
her mother. “ I must write to the twins.” 

Once down on the sand it seemed perfectly nor¬ 
mal, like any other beach. Mr. Carter was inclined 
to laugh at the old legends, as he called them, al¬ 
though the serious Breton peasant who accompanied 
them assured him that at such and such a place a 
whole regiment had suddenly been swallowed up, 
and had disappeared. 

“ Let me have the camera, Dad,” asked Jack. 
“ I want to get a picture of the place from here.” 

“ All right, only be careful, son. I’ve got some 
pictures on that film that I don’t want to lose.” 
Mr. Carter turned to ask some questions of the 
guide, and the two children lingered, taking pic¬ 
tures. Then they wanted to look through Mr. Car¬ 
ter’s field glasses. 

Jack slung the camera over his shoulder and the 
two looked out towards the sea. It would soon be 
time for the turning of the tide. 

“ Come, Alice, come, boy, our guide says we ought 
to be starting back.” Mr. Carter’s voice came to 
them across the sand. Startled, they turned to race 
after him. Jack tripped and fell, but was up again 
in a minute and caught up with Alice. They all 
reached the stone steps together. 

As they went up, Mr. Carter turned to Jack. 
“ Camera O. K.?” 

“ Yes, Dad.” Jack felt over his shoulders. 



MONT ST. MICHEL — BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 85 


There seemed to be two cases there, containing the 
camera and the field glasses. 

As they reached the street, Alice whispered to 
Jack: 

“ Let’s take a picture of Dad discussing prices with 
the guide. Let me take it.” 

“ Sure, you get it off my back.” 

It was then Alice discovered that the camera was 
gone, only the case hung over Jack’s shoulder. The 
two children were filled with consternation. 

“ It must have fallen out when you tumbled 
down,” said Alice softly. “What shall we do?” 

“ I’ll have to go back for it. Don’t — don’t tell 
Daddy. I’ll hurry and be sure to find it. You go 
on and say I stopped at the hotel for something, 
that I’ll follow in a minute.” 

Mr. Carter and the guide were out of sight 
around the corner. Without waiting for Alice’s 
half-smothered “Jack — the tide!” he ran back. 
She stood in dismay, hesitating whether to join the 
others or to wait for Jack. 

“Hurry Alice — Jack—'run to the hotel and 
get your mother. The tide will soon be here and 
we must see it from the battlements.” Alice rushed 
off to the hotel. “ Jack’ll be back before we get 
there,” she thought hopefully. 

Jack ran back as quickly as he could. He felt hot 
and trembly. 

“ What will Dad say? ” he kept repeating to him¬ 
self. He thought of the quicksands, of the possi¬ 
bility of the camera being swallowed up like the 



86 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


army of old. He did not think of the tide, which 
in a short time would sweep like a great wall of 
water with the roar and speed of an express train. 
He thought it would be easy to retrace their steps, 
but the sand seemed all the same as it stretched away. 
The hopelessness of his task came over him. The 
camera was so small in comparison with the vast 
stretches about him. 

He had the glasses still, and looking through 
them, thought he could distinguish a small, black 
object a little way off. He started towards it, with 
trembling steps. There might be a quicksand in 
between. He wished he had a stick to feel his way 
with. The black object seemed as far away as ever, 
and now the firm rock of Mont Michel was also re¬ 
ceding. He looked through the glasses again. As 
he did so, something seemed to take hold of his 
foot. He looked down. One of his feet was buried 
in sand up to the ankle. He could only draw it up 
by lying flat and crawling. Were the quicksands 
everywhere? The wind seemed to be rising. It 
was moaning and sighing in his ears. Was there to 
be a storm? 

The sound was like the distant roar and rush of a 
great wind. But the sky was clear, the sun shone 
bright. He swept the sand with his glasses and then 
looked through them out to sea. Far, far out some¬ 
thing seemed to be moving — a long line of white 
and gray — and then the meaning of it all came to 
him. The sound in his ears, the sinister murmur, 
.was not the wind. It was the roaring of floods of 



MONT ST. MICHEL-BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 87 


water, the incoming tidal wave. Jack turned, for a 
moment his heart was faint and his knees trembled. 

But it was only for a moment. The great gray 
battlement of Mont Michel, the white stairs were 
not so very far, and not for nothing had he 
practiced running in Texas on the school baseball 
team. 

Run, Jack—it is a fierce race with a relentless 
enemy this time! 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter, with Alice, were standing 
on the battlements when Mr. Carter asked again, 
“ Where is Jack? ” 

“ Father,” said Alice finally, worried at his ab¬ 
sence, “ Father, he dropped your camera on the sand 
and went back for it.” 

“Went back for it, Alice!” cried Mrs. Carter. 

Mr. Carter did not stop for question or answer, 
but ran down the street as fast as possible; even as 
he ran the same sinister and distant rushing murmur 
came to his ears. “ The quicksands and the tide.” 
In his terror for the boy Mr. Carter hardly knew 
which to fear the most. It seemed hours to him 
before he reached the stairs, but the street sounds 
deadened the roar of the incoming water and the 
danger did not appear so imminent until, from the 
tip of the stone stairs, he looked across the sands at 
the rushing line of foaming, seething water. 

At the bottom step were half a dozen peasants 
who, frantically gesticulating and rapidly talking, 
were helping a small, limp figure to mount. Others 
had seen Jack’s danger and had helped him to safety. 



88 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Mr. Carter, with an arm about the trembling boy, 
shook hands with the men and thanked them with 
deep feeling. Then they hurried back to find Mrs. 
Carter and Alice. It was a sober group that stood 
on the battlements and watched the sweep of the 
water around the great rocky mount of safety. 

The camera was forgotten by all but Jack, who 
could not forget. 

“ If only I had been able to find it.— If only I 
had not lost it.— If only—” he kept repeating to 
himself. 

Presently two gentlemen approached them and 
one of them asked in French whether they had lost 
anything or whether they were in some trouble. 
Mr. Carter answered that the boy had almost lost 
his life in the incoming tide. 

“ Oh, we heard of that — we thought this might 
be the boy. We felicitate you on your escape, mon¬ 
sieur.” 

There was some little conversation and then the 
strangers asked to be recommended to a good hotel. 

Mr. Carter replied a little shortly that he, too, 
was a stranger. 

“ I only know what Baedeker recommends,” 
said he. 

They then parted and after the two men had gone 
Alice asked her father why he had not mentioned 
“ Madame Poulard.” 

“Well, when a perfect stranger gets too friendly 
and sympathetic and then wants to go to your hotel, 



MONT ST. MICHEL — BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 89 


why in Texas we lock up our purses, and hunt up 
the guns; Alice, come, it’s time for supper.” 

With a laugh he turned away from the sea and 
started back to the hotel. 



CHAPTER IX 

VITRE — LE MANS — THE CAMERA IS FOUND 

Two days later the Carters started bright and 
early for Vitre en route for Le Mans. Mr. Carter 
had been anxious to see one of the really old French 
towns — more or less unspoiled by tourists, so they 
spent a delightful three hours at Vitre, taking their 
lunch at an odd little restaurant, and wandering 
through the narrow streets. There were mediaeval 
houses of timber and stone, with galleries and 
porches, sculptured and ornamental. In some cases 
the upper stories projected over the sidewalks so 
as to form a covered arcade. There was the re¬ 
mains of a massive Norman castle; and the fortifi¬ 
cations of the town were still standing behind which 
the Huguenots successfully defended themselves in 
the old days. 

As they walked along Jack asked: 

“ Why are modern houses and towns so different? 
They are all so straight and just-alike. The new 
streets and boulevards in Paris were all that way, 
and the houses were like walls, instead of being 
odd, with corners and things.” 

“ Well, Jack, I’ll tell you one possible reason. A 
house, or town is built first of all for protection; for 
protection from cold and storms, and from enemies. 

90 


VITRE-LE MANS — THE CAMERA FOUND 91 


Houses that are like walls keep the rain out better 
than houses with projections, where water would 
collect. But the main thing is, that in old days when 
your enemy was armed with a sword or a dirk, it 
was a good thing to be able to get up to him, pro¬ 
tected by angles and corners. Now, in the days of 
cannon, what you want is a straight avenue down 
which you can sweep with your shell and balls. 
Woe to the enemy who approaches even from 
afar.” 

“ Robert, what nonsense are you filling the boy’s 
head with! You know its simply a matter of beauty 
and convenience as we moderns see it.” 

“There may be truth in what you say, Kate; 
nevertheless there is also in my explanation. Just 
see how admirably they could pour burning oil down 
from these overhanging windows on an approaching 
enemy.” 

“ It is the age of the places that fills me with 
amazement and awe,” said Mrs. Carter. “ It is so 
different from reading history, one fairly sees it. I 
think I can easily picture the heroines of Dumas and 
Balzac looking out of these overhanging windows, 
or putting out one lily hand as a favorable sign to the 
eager and chivalrous gallant waiting below.” 

“ Instead of pouring oil on them! But just wait 
till we get to Blois, Kate. That is what I am look¬ 
ing forward to. The room where Guise was mur¬ 
dered, the beautiful staircase of Franqois Premier, 
those are worth seeing.” 

The train which was to take them to Le Mans was 



92 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


already puffing in the station when the Carter family 
arrived. In the same compartment in which they 
seated themselves were two pleasant-looking young 
Frenchmen. Jack nudged his father and whispered 
to him that these were the men who had been so per¬ 
sistent in their questions at St. Michel. Mr. Carter 
only laughed. 

“ Traveling is for all, Jack. They won’t eat us,” 
he remarked. 

The two men presently made an opportunity to 
speak to Mr. Carter. They finally asked him again 
if he had not lost something at Mont St. Michel. 

“ Why no,” answered Mr. Carter, a. little annoyed. 

Suddenly Jack exclaimed: 

“ Daddy, the camera.” 

“ Qu } est-ce-qu y il dit” (What does he say) ? asked 
one of the Frenchmen. 

“ Un kodak — nous avons perdu un kodak (We 
have lost a kodak) answered Mr. Carter. 

“ A la bonne heure, un kodak. Est-ce que pent 
etre celuici >y (Is it perhaps this one)? and the 
Frenchman opened his valise and drew out the lost 
camera. 

“ Oh, Monsieur,” cried Jack, in absolute delight. 

Mr. Carter thanked them, with almost equal en¬ 
thusiasm and in a few moments the whole family 
were talking, half in French and half in English, as 
though they had known each other all their lives. 

A great load seemed to have fallen from Jack’s 
shoulders. 

“ I certainly am glad to get those films again,” said 




From the mainland to tHe island, where towered the battlemented abbey 











VITRE-LE MANS — THE CAMERA FOUND 


93 


Mr. Carter. “ Think of all those pictures we took 
at Rheims at the aviation meet, Jack, let alone all the 
pictures I have taken in connection with business. 

“ Where did you find it, Monsieur?” They re¬ 
plied they had been walking on the sands of St. 
Michel and had discovered the kodak half buried. 
They had thought that it must belong to the children 
seen in the distance running to overtake their father. 
But Mr. Carter standing on the battlements would 
not be questioned. 

As they had nothing else to do, being tourists of 
leisure, they had resolved to follow the American 
party. It seemed they were from the provinces and 
not acquainted with many Americans, and the Car¬ 
ters became an object of interest to them. The 
camera, they had decided, would prove an excuse 
for any seeming impertinence on their part. 

Mr. Carter was immensely amused. He shook 
hands with them cordially, exchanged cards with 
them. So the journey passed pleasantly. It was late 
when the train puffed into Le Mans, with a ringing 
of bells and screeching of horns. 

The little party, including the two Frenchmen, 
drove to a hotel on the principal square. There was 
some sort of circus going on in there and the square 
was filled with tents and people. There were plenty 
of side shows, trained birds and men selling candies, 
nuts and strings of cheap jewelry, while from the 
tents came an occasional weird yell, the voice of a 
caged lion or tiger. 

All night the roaring of the animals kept them 



94 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


awake, and Mr. and Mrs. Carter were much an¬ 
noyed. 

“ The town will be full of all sorts of queer peo¬ 
ple, too,” said Mrs. Carter. “ We must watch the 
children and our purses.” 

They pushed their way through the square with 
some difficulty. Jack and Alice wanted to pause in 
front of the cages. 

“ Bob and Kitty would have liked this,” said Jack. 

“ I am glad they are back in a fresh, clean place,” 
answered his mother. “ But it will be good to see 
them again.” 

“ Their letters sound jolly enough,” remarked Mr. 
Carter. “ I fancy they’ll be right sorry to leave. 
I will go up and get them in about a fortnight now, 
and then land you all safe in Touraine, while I do 
a little work to pay for our fun. Positively I shall 
be afraid to look Uncle Sam in the face when I get 
back. I have loafed so.” 

Le Mans proved to be an attractive mediaeval 
town with a fine old cathedral and some old 
houses. 

“ It is an excellent opportunity to see the difference 
between the early Norman Romanesque arch and 
the Gothic,” Mr. Carter explained. 

“ The nave, that is the body of the church, is 
early Norman Romanesque and dates from the 
twelfth century, while the choir is a fine example of 
Gothic and was built a century or so later.” 

Jack and Alice, now that their attention was 
called to it, easily saw the difference between the 



VITRE-LE MANS-THE CAMERA FOUND 95 


rounded arch of the earlier builders, and the beauti¬ 
ful high vaulting of the Gothic. 

“ Cathedrals are almost all built in the shape of 
a cross, with the chapels built about the choir,” said 
Mr. Carter. “ There are twelve of these here be¬ 
sides the beautiful Lady Chapel, dedicated to Our 
Lady, as the men of old used to speak of the Virgin 
Mary. There are usually not so many chapels. The 
cross piece is called the transept. Here it is very 
high, you see, and very beautiful with its wonderful 
rose window.” 

“ I like the whiteness of it,” said Mrs. Carter. 
“ It makes me think of the old white churches in 
New England. It seems so clean and bright com¬ 
pared to some of the other old ones.” 

“ But, Mother,” said Alice, “ you don’t like your 
old plain white wooden churches as much as these? ” 

“ Indeed I do, Alice. When you grow up, per¬ 
haps you will understand why. Of course I love to 
go into these and see them, just as I love to go to a 
gallery or to the theater, but when I want to say my 
prayers, I like something simpler. And I like to 
think of the fine, simple, clean men who built those 
churches.” 

“ O you old Puritan,” laughed Mr. Carter. 
“ There were some simple, devout men who built 
these cathedrals, too.” 

“ Oh, I suppose so, but that isn’t what cathedrals 
stand for in my mind, Robert.” 

“ Well, honey, isn’t it fine that you can have both 
kinds and nobody’s going to string you up for sitting 




96 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


through the service in your wooden New England 
churches? ” 

“ Now, Robert, you are giving the children a false 
idea.” 

“ Alice, am I giving you a false idea? What is 
your idea, anyway!” 

Alice thought a minute. 

“ I don’t know,” she said. “ You like cathedrals 
best and mother likes churches best ’cause she can 
say her prayers better in them. But I like to say 
mine best in bed.” 

“ Alice, you know you ought not to,” said Mrs. 
Carter. “ I never let them, Robert. Now do be 
serious,” for Mr. Carter was laughing heartily. 

“ Well, they are all kneeling here, anyway. There 
seems to be a service going on; let us join them.” 

While they had been talking the wooden chairs 
had been filling with people of all sorts — peasant 
women, nuns, with their sober dresses and large 
white bonnets — a few men — some simple-looking 
women, with black shawls over their heads. 

The Carters sat down and waited. An acolyte 
lighted the candles on the altar and the full tones 
of the organ pealed through the arches. Red and 
white robed boys came in with their censers, followed 
by the choir and the priests. 

The officiating priest had a fine voice and the 
French-Latin of the services as he intoned it was 
beautiful indeed. Alice and Jack watched with cu¬ 
rious eyes the progress of the service and tried to 
do as they saw others do. 




A really old town — Lannion 





























































VITRfi — LE MANS-THE CAMERA FOUND 


97 


“ I think I like it best in English, Daddy,” whis¬ 
pered Jack, after the service was over. 

“ There are advantages, but remember that any 
Catholic, whether he be American, German, French 
or Hindu can hear and understand the same service, 
wherever he may be. That, too, is an advantage,” 
answered his father. 

Then the children went with Mr. Carter up into 
the galleries, while Mrs. Carter stayed below to 
study the stained glass and carvings. 

The cathedral had no tower so the pleasure of 
the added climb was denied to the party. As they 
emerged from the dark stairs they ran almost into 
the arms of their two young French friends. So 
they all lunched together at the Boule d’Or in the 
little square that contains the market place. They 
sat, as usual, at little tables from which they could 
look off across the valley to the rolling country be¬ 
yond. Indeed, the situation of Le Mans is one of 
its charms. The cathedral with its innumerable fly¬ 
ing buttresses, as well as the houses, are built upon a 
hill which gives a feeling of watchfulness and secu¬ 
rity. 

The invariable red wine, perfectly harmless and 
drunk in large quantities by men, women and chil¬ 
dren, seemed better, somehow, in this quiet spot, and 
the soft tone of the manceaux who sat at the other 
tables was a delight to hear. Afterwards they went 
to the museum. 

Alice was much disappointed not to find the circus 
when they got back to the hotel. It had left that 



98 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


afternoon, but Mr. Carter was jubilant, for he had 
discovered a kodak place where he could have his 
films developed. 

They stayed in Le Mans for several days. Jack 
claimed because of the films, for it was not long be¬ 
fore they had exhausted the town’s resources. The 
young Frenchmen were a constant delight, however. 
They proved both witty and well-bred, and most 
anxious to hear about America. 44 Was it like Ra¬ 
cine’s 4 Athalie ’ ? ” they asked. 44 And were there 
many Indians upon the streets? Where was Mr. 
Carter’s gun, and did they know Miss Good? ” This 
last puzzled Mr. Carter somewhat until they ex¬ 
plained that it was the lady who had married the 
Count di Castiliani, now Marquise de Sargon. 

“ We have heard of her,” replied Mr. Carter 
dryly. 

He said afterwards to his wife: 

44 Kate, where did those boys get their ideas of 
America ? ” 

44 From the Paris Herald and from the classics, 
I imagine.” 

The last night of their stay in Le Mans, Mr. 
Carter came into the parlor with a roll of films and 
three dozen prints. They all proceeded to examine 
them. 

Jack wanted to see the aviation pictures especially. 
Alice and Mrs. Carter wanted the Paris ones and 
the two Frenchmen and Mr. Carter were interested 
in all. 

Jack became absorbed in one picture of Monsieur 



VITRfi-LE MANS-THE CAMERA FOUND 


99 


Jean’s Antoinette taken in front of the hangar. In 
the background were a small group of spectators. It 
was a very clear picture and the faces of the crowd 
were quite distinct. Jack saw beside the hangar 
the two men who had fought in Herr Berkmann’s 
room. He was sure of it; the tall, fair man came 
out especially clear. 

Jack asked his father’s permission to keep the pic¬ 
ture and as it was one of many, the consent was 
given. 

“Take your beloved aeroplane, Jack — I really 
think the boy is a little crazy about Monsieur Jean.” 

It was precisely of Monsieur Jean that Jack was 
thinking. Would the picture be of use to him? 
That very night Jack wrote a letter inclosing the 
picture and asking for news. He told where they 
expected to be in Orleans, and hoped some day they 
might meet. The next day as they left Le Mans 
he mailed the note to Monsieur Jean. 




CHAPTER X 


.ORLEANS — A FRENCH CHATEAU-MONSIEUR 

JEAN APPEARS 

They found Orleans somewhat dull, as far as 
antiques were concerned, although a pleasant modern 
city. Jack and Alice were interested in the various 
reliques of Joan of Arc. Their father told them the 
story of the Wonderful Maid, who, inspired by 
heaven, came to the help of Orleans on her white 
horse. 

“ I believe they have religious processions here 
every year in May in her honor,” he said. 

Mr. Carter of course found almost every city in¬ 
teresting to him in a business way, but the cathedral 
was not an important one and there was little else 
to see except the museums. Jack discovered that 
there were soldiers, a regiment of artillery, and 
tried to inspire the rest of the party with some 
enthusiasm. But they were all glad to be joined by 
the two Frenchmen who had letters to a family, 
distant kinsmen, living in a neighboring chateau. 
This was about four miles away at the source of the 
Loiret, a little stream supposed to flow by subter¬ 
ranean channels into the Loire River. They ob¬ 
tained permission to bring their American friends 
and one pleasant afternoon the party drove out to 
the chateau to take gouter with the le Croix family. 

IOO 


ORLEANS — MONSIEUR JEAN APPEARS 


IOI 


They drove out in an auto, which Mr. Carter 
thought would be the most suitable way to visit a 
real chateau. 

The park and gardens of the house were charm¬ 
ingly kept and the stream, the u Little Loire,” most 
attractive. When they arrived at the chateau they 
found a cordial welcome from Madame le Croix, 
a fine-looking, gray-haired lady; her son, and his son 
and daughter. Monsieur le Croix was of an old 
Huguenot family and a courteous and handsome gen¬ 
tleman. He showed them the chateau with its 
reliques of former days, among which were some 
splendid portraits and a collection of old Huguenot 
arms and curiosities. There were beautiful parch¬ 
ment books, a rare copy of the Bible in the Vulgate 
which had belonged to a former le Croix. Mr. Car¬ 
ter was delighted. They spent some time in the 
library and finally Francois le Croix came to an¬ 
nounce to them that his grandmother expected them 
to tea. 

Mr. Carter and his host still lingered, but the two 
young Frenchmen and Jack and Alice gladly fol¬ 
lowed Francois down the stone staircase, into the 
great hall, and out to the garden at the back of the 
chateau. There under some beautiful trees sat 
Madame le Croix at her tea table, beside her was 
her granddaughter, Mademoiselle Louise, a pretty, 
black-eyed girl of eighteen. 

Talking to them was no less a person than Herr 
Berkmann. Jack was amazed. So Herr Berkmann 
had left Paris; did Monsieur Jean know it? He 



102 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


thought that that gentleman seemed almost as aston¬ 
ished as he and not pleasantly so. But the German 
recovered himself instantly and announced that he 
was visiting his fellow student at the Beaux Art, 
Monsieur Francois le Croix. 

It was a beautiful afternoon in late September. 
The tea and gateaux were delicious, Madame le 
Croix a cordial hostess, so the whole party were 
merry together. Jack could not help thinking of 
Monsieur Jean; he managed to enquire of Herr 
Berkmann how long he was to stay. The German 
seemed a little surprised, but answered a week or 
so. He was taking an enforced vacation, he said, 
on account of his health. 

Mr. Carter, who had been watching pretty 
Mademoiselle Louise, decided in his own mind that 
health was not the only thing that was keeping Herr 
Berkmann at the chateau. 

That evening Jack sent off a telegram to Mon¬ 
sieur Jean. It took some of his precious twenty- 
francs, but it had to be done. He felt that Monsieur 
Jean should be notified. 

Monsieur le Croix had found the acquaintance of 
Mr. Carter so much to his liking that he begged 
them all to stay on in Orleans for a day or two, in 
order to attend his daughter’s fete, a birthday party 
to be held two days later. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter were delighted and Jack, 
too, was pleased. He hoped to hear from Monsieur 
Jean. Mr. Carter sought out a florist to make a 
bouquet for the young heroine of the day and Mrs. 




Procession in honor of Joan of Arc 













































































i yss iiy - - 


































ORLEANS — MONSIEUR JEAN APPEARS 103 


Carter arranged at the hotel to have Alice’s best 
dress washed and ironed. 

“ I don’t know that I approve of Alice’s going 
to such a big party,” she said doubtfully, but Mr. 
Carter reassured her. 

“ Of course it’s exciting, but think what fun. She 
will be able to tell all the girls at home about it! ” 
he said. “ Think of a party in a real chateau.” 

They were just getting ready for supper. Jack, 
washed and combed, was sitting in the parlor read¬ 
ing when Monsieur Jean’s card was brought to 
him. 

He sprang up. “ Monsieur Jean is downstairs 
and wants to see me,” he called to his father and 
mother. Then he eagerly ran downstairs. Mon¬ 
sieur Jean was waiting in the office. He grasped 
Jack’s hand. 

“Bravo, mon gars” he whispered. “We had 
just discovered his absence. We did not know where 
he was to be. You have helped us — indeed, yes. 
Now, do you think you could come with me, just 
for a little promenade? I have something impor¬ 
tant to say.” 

“ Maybe, if you asked father,” said Jack, hesi¬ 
tating. 

“ I will ask him. Can I go up ? ” 

“They’ll be down in a minute to supper. We 
haven’t had supper,” said Jack. 

“ I cannot wait, mon gars . It is now or never.” 

He scribbled on a card a request for permission 
to take Jack out for half an hour. 



104 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


He sent the card upstairs by a bell boy. Then, 
without waiting for a reply, tucked Jack’s arm under 
bis and went out into the street. 

“ Vite, vite, Jack. I have just come by train, on 
the train was a man, big and blonde. He look 
like the picture, you send. He got off here. I fol¬ 
low him to a cabaret where he stop for supper. I 
ran to you. You must tell me if he is the man. Per¬ 
haps he came to find Berkmann.” Jack, all excite¬ 
ment, hurried along with Monsieur Jean. 

Fortunately the cabaret was not far away. It 
was brightly lighted and from within came sounds 
of revelry. Jack and Monsieur Jean looked through 
the windows. There were a number of soldiers sit¬ 
ting at little tables, laughing, drinking, singing songs 
and having a jolly time of it. Among them was a 
tall, fair-haired man, in civilian’s clothes. 

“ That’s he, Monsieur Jean,” whispered Jack. 

“ Bravo, we are good detectives, hein, Jack?” 

Monsieur Jean squeezed the boy’s arm. 

“You are sure? Positive? We cannot make a 
mistake I ” 

“ I am sure.” 

" Bon; now back to your hotel like lightning. 
For I must return. O Jacques, Jacques, bad things 
have to happen to me. I had made a model of an 
invention to use in my Antoinette, it has been stole 
right from my atelier where I was at work on it. 
There are some who suspect me, me, Jean Noir, of 
selling my plans to that German, betraying my coun¬ 
try. I must recover it before it reaches Berkmann. 



ORLEANS-MONSIEUR JEAN APPEARS 


105 


Perhaps this man has it. It is you who will save me, 
n } est ce pas? You have faith, Jack? ” 

“ Oh, Monsieur Jean, of course I do. Didn’t 
I see the men? ” 

“ My commandant, he believe also. He gave 
me permission to seek, to restore my honor. But 
there are others; they are jealous. Jack, if I sent 
for you to help me, you would come? ” 

“ I guess I would, any time, day or night.” 

“ I will remember, mon gars . A thousand thanks 
for what you have done already. Au revoir. I 
feel that we shall meet soon, and Jack, you must not 
tell. It is our secret.” 

They shook hands at the hotel door and parted. 
The boy, full of excitement, ran into the dining-room 
where the rest of his family were almost through 
dinner. Mrs. Carter expressed some disapproval of 
Monsieur Jean as well as of Jack himself. 

“ Oh, Mother, it was such fun. I can’t tell you. 
It’s a secret of Monsieur Jean.” 

Nothing more w T as said about it then, but that 
evening Mr. Carter took the boy aside and ques¬ 
tioned him. 

“ Where did Monsieur Jean take you? And why 
did he not wait for my consent? ” 

“ Daddy, he was in a hurry. I can’t tell you why. 
He told me not to. But, Daddy, he’s square.” 

Mr. Carter looked his son in the eyes. 

“ Jack, you’re young to have secrets from your 
father,” he said. “ I don’t like it. And I don’t 
know that I trust these French soldiers.” 



io6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Daddy, he’s square, and you can trust him.” 

“ I don’t like your going oh with him.” 

“ There’s nothing wrong in it. Truly, Father. 
Please believe me.” 

Mr. Carter stood looking at the boy. 

“ Jack, you mustn’t go away without telling me. 
I do trust you, but you’re only a boy. I must know 
what you are doing.” 

“ This isn’t my secret, Father. I can’t tell you. 
But Monsieur Jean wouldn’t take me anywhere 
wrong.” 

“ Jack, there’s lots of badness in the world that 
you don’t know about. Some of these army fellows 
haven’t the best of reputations. I have made some 
enquiries about Monsieur Jean and he seems to be 
all right. I suppose the time will be coming before 
I know it when you will have to judge for yourself, 
and choose your friends for yourself, and though that 
time hasn’t come yet to my way of thinking, still 
you’re old enough to understand some things. 

“ Now, about Monsieur Jean; if you promised not 
to tell where you went, I won’t ask you, but I want 
you to say to him next time, and he won’t think the 
worse of you, either, 4 1 can’t go off on these adven¬ 
tures without telling my dad.’ What do you think, 
Jack, couldn’t you say that?” 

44 Daddy, I’ve promised to help him. He’s been 
falsely accused of something.” 

44 Well, help him all you want, but I want to know 
when you are going on these relief expeditions. A 
fellow who is worth his salt won’t quarrel with you 



ORLEANS-MONSIEUR JEAN APPEARS 


107 


for trusting your father. What I want you to think 
of is just this: when a fellow proposes something 
to you, stop for a minute and say to yourself, 
‘Would I be willing to share this with my father? 
And if not, is it because I am ashamed of it? If it’s 
something I am ashamed to tell him, two to one it’s 
something I’ll be ashamed of having done.’ Why, 
Jack, I was a boy myself not so long ago, and a 
handful, I’ll have you understand. I think I can 
understand and sympathize with your plans and am¬ 
bitions. And I want to try and help you to decide 
wisely in what you do, so that you will have as few 
regrets as possible for foolish things done. Jack, 
Jack, it’s hard for a father to stand so far along the 
road and not really be able to help his son over the 
hard places he’s been over himself. I can give you 
advice, but it is up to you whether you follow it or 
not.” 

He let his hand fall on the boy’s shoulder and 
they stood for a moment looking out of the window. 

The square was brilliantly lighted and people 
were gayly passing to and fro. “ It’s pretty, isn’t 
it? But those lights aren’t as healthy as the sun¬ 
light, Jack. Remember that what won’t stand the 
light of day is usually tinsel, not gold.” 



CHAPTER XI 

THE JOUR DE FfeTE 

The jour de fete was a beautiful September day, 
an “ Indian summer ” day. 

Early in the afternoon the little party drove out 
armed with many stiff French bouquets and French 
phrases of welcome and good will. At the chateau 
all was delightful confusion and merrymaking. 
There were counts and countesses, barons, baron¬ 
esses and even a duke or two, who seemed to Alice 
and Jack much like other people. There were officers 
of artillery in beautiful uniforms; there were pretty 
girls a-plenty, shy and charming. 

Tables were set on the lawn, and some gay young 
people were playing tennis on a grassy court. Herr 
Berkmann was conspicuously hovering about Ma¬ 
demoiselle Louise. But then so were a dozen or 
more young men, and the two Frenchmen who had 
come with the Carters, joined the throng of admir¬ 
ers. 

There were a few younger children, too, who were 
standing quietly beside their parents. The boys all 
wore socks and knee breeches, even those who were 
slightly older than Jack, which filled that young man 
with scorn. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter were introduced to many 


THE JOUR DE FETE 


109 


pleasant people and Alice followed her mother 
around, looking about her with wide-open eyes. She 
was thinking of all the people she must describe to 
chums at home. 

Jack had wandered away in the crowd. He 
watched the tennis for a while and as he sat there 
a man in a chauffeur’s costume approached him. It 
was Monsieur Jean. 

He bent over the boy and whispered: 

“ Can you find for me Berkmann’s room? I lost 
the other man. I think he has not been here. But 
he may be in the crowds to-day. I must go to Berk¬ 
mann’s room.” 

Jack sat for a moment, hesitating. He wondered 
what his father would say. 

“ He told me to judge for myself,” thought the 
boy. 

“ Jack, help me,” whispered Monsieur Jean. “ I 
ask much of you, but it is only to regain what was 
stolen from me.” 

Jack got up and walked slowly toward the house. 
Monsieur Jean seemed to vanish. 

The chateau had been thrown open to the visitors 
and Jack entered by a small door at the back. 

There were people everywhere on the first floor, 
admiring the beautiful rooms and old furniture, the 
hall, the portraits and library of valuable books. 

Jack walked calmly up the second flight of stairs 
and on the landing met one of the servants. 

“ Can you tell me where Monsieur Berkmann’s 
room is? ” he asked slowly, hoping she would under- 



no WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


stand. “ I have been sent for something. Quel 
que chose, apporter, ou est la chamhre de Monsieur 
Berkmann? ” 

The pretty maid pointed upward. 

“ I will show you,” she answered in English. 

And she escorted Jack up to the third story and 
to Herr Berkmann’s room in the little tower. 

He opened the door, after knocking and went in 
while the maid waited outside. He made a pretense 
at search, but as a matter of fact a strange noise 
right outside the window drew his attention. 

The next moment a head looked in at him, the 
head of the ruddy-faced, fair-haired man. 

Jack instantly left the room. 

“ The book was not there,” he said to the maid. 
“ Thank you for showing me the way.” He ran 
down the stairs as fast as he could. He felt that he 
must see the outside of that turret room. Monsieur 
Jean was waiting for him near the back door. He 
was astonished at the boy’s news, but on further ex¬ 
amination the heavy ivy which covered the walls of 
the tower seemed a fairly good explanation. A 
short climb would not be very unsafe even for a 
heavy man and could hardly be visible from below. 

4< The man must have been concealed somewhere 
in some empty room,” said Monsieur Jean. He 
thought a moment. 

“ Jack, I must go to that room and wait. I do not 
think that Berkmann has the plans yet.” 

“ But Monsieur Jean, you will be one to their 
two. It is not right.” 



THE JOUR DE FETE 


hi 


“ Peste f they are Germans. I have my noiseless 
pistols and my knife. I must go back.” 

Jack described again the way to the room. 

“ Now, walk over to the chateau with me, for 
you are a guest and have entree” said Monsieur 
Jean. 

The two went over to the back door and entered. 

“ There was no one on the third but the maid, 
you say, Jack?” 

“ No one, Monsieur Jean.” 

“And she, I trust, has gone. Au revoir f Jack.” 

“ O, Monsieur Jean, I cannot leave you like this.” 

“ Never fear for me. If you do not hear by to¬ 
morrow night, then send word to Alphonse Artois. 
He is in Orleans now, and can be reached at the pre¬ 
fecture. Do you remember Pere Alphonse in Paris? 
They are the same. He is in the secret service. Go 
now, Jack, and wish me good luck.” 

They shook hands and Jack went out again while 
Monsieur Jean passed quietly through the crowd 
and up to the second story, which was almost de¬ 
serted. He went in a self-assured manner, as though 
one of the servants of the house. 

At the third story he hesitated, being somewhat 
confused by the winding of the stairs, but at last he 
came to the room that he felt sure was Berkmann’s. 
He opened the door softly and entered. There was 
no one there. It w T as a charming room, old in fash¬ 
ion and handsomely furnished, and with windows at 
three sides, a turret room from which one could see 
over the country. There was a large clothespress 



ii2 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


on one side and a chest on the other, under the win¬ 
dows. Heavy curtains hung at the opening to the 
windows, which were deep set. 

A large four-poster bed with hangings, an oak 
table and two or three chairs completed the furni¬ 
ture. 

It was a question of going under the bed or into 
the clothespress and Monsieur Jean chose the latter, 
for there he could stand upright and be less at a 
disadvantage. There were no papers on the table 
or in the drawer which Monsieur Jean examined 
hastily. 

He crept to the window and looked out. He 
could see nothing suspicious. Over towards the city 
an aeroplane was lazily flying. It was a monoplane, 
and Monsieur Jean watched it a moment, kneeling 
in the recess of the window. Then he retired to the 
clothespress. There was an aviation field near 
Orleans, doubtless someone was practicing, and he 
thought no more of the matter. 



CHAPTER XII 


THE STRUGGLE IN HERR BERKMANN’s ROOM- 

THE ESCAPE 

Meanwhile Jack joined his parents and Alice, who 
were sitting at a little table under the trees. 

“ Where have you been, Jack? ” asked Alice. 

“ Inside the chateau. It certainly is a wonder. 
Such a place for hunting up secret passage ways! I 
am sure there is a secret room somewhere behind 
one of those portraits. I love the deep-set windows, 
too. I would like to sit and read in one of them.” 

“ You are positively eloquent, Jack,” laughed his 
mother. 

They finished their refreshments and then de¬ 
cided to leave. 

Jack tried to persuade them to stay, but his mother 
declared that they had remained long enough. They 
therefore went to make their adieux to their hostess, 
Madame le Croix, however, declared that they must 
return that evening. 

“ We cannot ask you to partake of my grand¬ 
daughter’s dinner, for that is one of a stated number 
of covers, but you must return to-night to witness the 
fireworks and the little play which is to be given 
afterwards.” 

“ I wish we could,” said Mrs. Carter, “ but we 
XI 3 


114 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


are leaving so early to-morrow morning that I think 
we must stay at the hotel to-night and pack.” 

“Oh, Daddy, couldn’t you bring me? Or 
couldn’t I come back with the two Frenchmen?” 
whispered Jack. 

Monsieur le Croix urged that they reconsider and 
finally as they left called after them to be sure and 
come if they should change their minds. 

Jack was in a state of subdued excitement as they 
drove home. Over the fields, towards the east, he 
watched the same aeroplane that Monsieur Jean had 
seen, flying to and fro like some mighty bird. 

“ I do want to see the fireworks, Daddy,” he 
pleaded. He was filled with consternation at the 
thought of leaving the next morning without seeing 
Monsieur Jean. He felt as if he were a deserter, 
and all through dinner was wondering how he could 
send word of their departure. He was afraid to say 
too much about going lest his father suspect some¬ 
thing to be on foot. Alice helped him by asking at 
dinner. 

“ Did you finally decide not to go to-night? ” 

“ Why, of course we cannot go. I must pack and 
you two children are too young to go,” said Mrs. 
Carter. 

Afterwards Jack stayed in the reading-room. 

Something seemed to be whispering in his ear: 

“ You cannot leave Monsieur Jean. He is in 
peril, in danger; you are the only one who knows.” 

Finally he shut up his book with a snap. 

“ I am going,” he said to himself. 




The winding staircase 

































THE STRUGGLE AND ESCAPE 


115 


At that moment his father came into the room. 

“ I am going out for a while, Jack,” he said. 
“ Your mother and Alice are packing. Don’t stay 
up late.” 

“ I’ll try not to, Father,” answered Jack with an 
excited laugh. “ They’ll think I went with Dad,” 
he was thinking to himself. 

He slipped out unnoticed. He had his money in 
his pocket. 

It was a warm, dark night, no moon and the stars 
half hidden by a light haze. 

He found a taxi in the square and ordered the 
chauffeur to drive to the Chateau le Croix “ vite, 
vite” He sat back in the cushioned seat, his heart 
beating madly. 

Over the white road they sped, across the river, 
through the rolling country. 

There were strange lights in the sky and over 
where the chateau lay, he could see bright rockets 
and bombs as they exploded in the darkness and 
scattered myriads of brilliants. 

There were no delays and he reached his destina¬ 
tion in about fifteen minutes. Bidding the chauffeur 
wait, he ran up the stairs, and then, before anyone 
had noticed him, slipped back into the bushes and 
round to the side. 

There were crowds of people watching the beauti¬ 
ful fireworks, and a band added to the gayety of 
the scene. How was he to get up to Herr Berk- 
mann’s room? At that moment someone brushed 
passed him and a voice said in French to him: 



ii6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Garqon, garqon” 

Jack tried to hide himself. 

Then a note and a piece of money were passed 
into his hand and the well-known accents of Herr 
Berkmann whispered, 

“ Donnez ce lettre a Mademoiselle Louise un 
pen plus tard. A pres une demie heure, comprennez 
vous? (Give this letter to Mademoiselle Louise 
— a little later — in half an hour, do you under¬ 
stand?”) Jack murmured: 

“ Ouir 

And Herr Berkmann, with a long, heavy coat and 
an automobile cap hastened away. 

Where was Monsieur Jean? Evidently something 
had happened. Jack did not dare venture into the 
house. Could he climb up the vine? That was the 
question. It seemed the only thing to do. He slunk 
along the wall till he came to where the heavy vine 
began and twined up the tower to Herr Berkmann’s 
room. It was a little away from the crowd. 

Jack started up. He climbed slowly and carefully. 
It was no easy thing to do, and a slip would mean a 
bad fall, if not death. 

He did not dare look down, but judged the height 
by the windows he passed, and at which he rested. 
Sometimes he looked into lighted rooms. Then 
there was a dark one and as he felt his way about, 
he found the end of a rope ladder. 

His heart beat more quickly. He pulled at it and 
it held firm. So he climbed up. In some ways this 
was harder than the vine, but it was stronger. 



THE STRUGGLE AND ESCAPE 


117 


It ended at Herr Berkmann’s window. Cautiously 
he looked over the window sill. The room was 
lighted by a single candle. On the table in the cen¬ 
ter sat a man, with his back to the window. Jack 
could see a reflected light on the barrel of the pistol 
which he held in his hand. On a chair beyond him 
was Monsieur Jean, gagged and evidently bound. 
His eyes were closed, and a red-stained cloth was 
bound over his forehead. 

Jack almost let go his hold. What could he do? 
He had no pistol, no knife, he was outside a closed 
window. 

At that moment the man got off the table and 
came over to the window. Jack instantly clung to 
the ivy and ducked his head. 

The man pushed open the window with a mut¬ 
tered: “ Brrr, das ist eine Hitze” (what a heat). 

He drew the heavy window curtains and went 
back into the room. Instantly Jack’s head came up 
above the sill. He could look past the deep, dark 
recess of the window through the almost closed cur¬ 
tains and see the dim light beyond. That was all. 
It was too tantalizing. He cautiously climbed a lit¬ 
tle higher. Then slowly, with the help of the win¬ 
dows which swung wide open, he got into the recess 
of the window. There he sat for a moment resting. 
Then he peeked through the curtains. 

The German had left the table and was sitting back 
in a large chair. His pistol was laid on the arm of 
it. Monsieur Jean had opened his eyes, and was 
looking about him as though in search of inspiration. 



118 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Jack softly stuck his face between the curtains 
and fixed his eyes on the prisoner. The next minute 
Monsieur Jean looked fixedly in his direction. Jack 
cautiously put his hand through the curtain, but in¬ 
stantly withdrew it. 

After he felt a little rested, Jack knew something 
must be done. But what? He felt sure that he 
could never climb down again by the ivy. Any mo¬ 
ment he might be discovered and he dared not think 
of the probably swift descent from the tower which 
would follow for him. He felt in his pockets and 
found a large jackknife. What if he should ex¬ 
tinguish the light? Would that be a help or a 
hindrance? He might be able to help Monsieur 
Jean in the darkness and confusion. But if he should 
miss? 

In another pocket he found the piece of money 
that Herr Berkmann had given him. The candle¬ 
stick was a big, heavy one. It would take more 
than a coin, possibly more than a knife, to knock it 
over. 

The German now arose from his chair, stretched, 
and walked towards the window, leaving his pistol 
on the chair arm. 

There was no time to lose; an inspiration seemed 
to come to the boy, born of his deadly peril. He 
drew off his coat, and threw it straight at the candle, 
jumping into the room as he did so and ducking un¬ 
der the table. 

With a muttered exclamation the German made 
a grab for the object which had so suddenly entered 



THE STRUGGLE AND ESCAPE 


119 


the room. But the coat had fulfilled its mission; 
for a moment the room was dark, and in that mo¬ 
ment Jack possessed himself of the pistol lying on 
the chair arm by the table. 

Almost at the same instant the German himself 
had made a rush for it, but he was too late by a 
minute. Then he turned quickly to Monsieur Jean. 
But Jack had thought of that, too. He had sprung 
to his friend and with one hand in which was the open 
knife held back of him, and his other holding the 
pistol in front, he stood between Monsieur Jean and 
the German. 

“ I have your pistol,” he said loudly. 

It was black darkness in the room, which was a 
disadvantage to Jack. He realized at once that his 
only hope lay in firing at once. 

He was used to a shotgun at home, so he knew 
how to handle firearms. He shot at the black shadow 
which loomed above him. There was no sound, 
only a flash of light from the pistol. He fired again 
at a slightly different angle. There was a rush to¬ 
wards him and he fired again. Something heavy 
fell. 

Instantly he turned and with his knife cut the 
cords that bound Monsieur Jean’s arms, then his 
legs. 

Then something hit him in the legs and he tum¬ 
bled. He dared not fire again but rolled over as 
fast as possible and got behind the table. 

There was a scuffle and the sounds of a struggle. 
If only he could strike a light. It was so dark. 



120 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


He ran to the window and threw aside the cur¬ 
tains. A sudden brilliant light came from somewhere 
into the room. In that instant of light Jack saw a 
box of matches and another candle on top" of the 
dresser. Then all was dark again. But the boy 
sprang for the dresser and in a moment the room 
was lighted by the flickering candle. 

Jack aimed his pistol at the big German who had 
turned to see the light. The pointed muzzle spoke 
more eloquently than words. The German’s hands 
went up, and Monsieur Jean rushed over to the 
door and unlocked it. 

Then he took the pistol from the boy and told 
him to run. Jack went out of the door like a flash. 
Monsieur Jean, key in one hand and pistol in the 
other, backed out of the door and locked it behind 
him. Then he threw his arms about Jack and kissed 
him on the cheeks. 

“ We must run. There is not a moment to lose,” 
said Jack. And down they ran. 

“ The letter for Mademoiselle Louise. I had al¬ 
most forgot it.” 

“ What letter?” demanded Monsieur Jean. 

“ Herr Berkmann gave it to me. He did not 
recognize me.” 

“ Give it to me.” 

“ But, Monsieur Jean, it is for Mademoiselle Lou¬ 
ise.” 

“ You are right, mon petit, it is for a lady. We 
cannot open it. But doubtless there is nothing in 



THE STRUGGLE AND ESCAPE 


121 


They had now reached the brightly lighted floors 
of the chateau. 

Everyone was watching the play in the large hall. 

“ We cannot go down there/’ said Monsieur Jean, 
“ looking as we do. We must go by the window.” 

He tried one of the doors which they were pass¬ 
ing. It was unlocked and they opened it. It led 
into a hallway and to a flight of stairs. 

Monsieur Jean and Jack ran swiftly down. They 
could hear voices, laughter and hand clapping. The 
stairs ended in a shut door. Beyond was silence. 
Monsieur Jean tried this door. It opened, and they 
found themselves in a sort of pantry, in which was a 
low, deep-set window. Monsieur Jean opened it, 
and they swung themselves down onto the ground 
at the back of the house. 

“ Now, Jack, carefully.” 

Without seeming to hurry too much they made 
their way to where Jack’s taxi was still waiting at 
the front door. 

“ Now, mon cher, you have saved my life. I will 
never forget. I cannot thank you now as I should. 
For you must go home. What will your father 
say? ” 

“ My letter for Mademoiselle Louise,” interrupted 
Jack. 

“ Eh, the letter, well, I will give it to some man 
here. I fancy it is to make his adieux.” 

Monsieur Jean gave the letter to a chauffeur and 
presented him with Herr Berkmann’s coin. 

At that moment a sudden flash of light came from 



122 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


the sky, a great search light, the same that had pene¬ 
trated the tower room. 

“What’s that?” said Jack. 

“ del, it is from an aeroplane. I have it, Jack, 
I have it. They have come for Berkmann and the 
other man. They ought to have Berkmann by this 
time. Jack, I must get them. Your auto quick, 
quick! ” 

They jumped into the waiting taxi. 

“ The aero field,” commanded Monsieur Jean. 

“ Fite, vite, }) and they were off at mad speed. 



CHAPTER XIII 


JACK TELLS HIS FATHER — BLOIS — THE STORY 
OF THE DUKE OF GUISE 

A bell somewhere in the distance was striking ten. 
Jack leaned back in the auto. He was very tired. 

Monsieur Jean seemed to have forgotten his 
wounded head. He was sitting with his face at the 
open window. Neither of them spoke till they 
reached the aviation field, outside of the city. There 
were soldiers there always on guard. Monsieur Jean 
had his papers to show, as an officer in the military 
aviation corps. A few moments of rapid explana¬ 
tion and the doors of one of the hangars were 
pushed back. Two of the men assisted Monsieur to 
roll out the heavy machine. It looked grim and 
mysterious in the darkness. Monsieur made a 
hasty but thorough examination of the machinery; 
the steering gear, the “ wings,” the search lights — 
all seemed in perfect order. Then he turned to Jack. 

“Mon cher,” he said, “you must go home. I 
cannot tell you here what it is to feel for what you 
have done. Sometime I will tell.” 

“ Oh, Monsieur Jean — can’t I go — It would be 
so wonderful.” 

“ No, no, mon petit . It is impossible. This is 
a man’s work, and a Frenchman’s — forgive me — 
you have done a man’s work to-night, but what I 
123 


124 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


do now is for an aviator. I could not permit it. 
Au revoir — Sometime I will tell you of to-night’s 
adventure.” 

He kissed Jack, according to the French custom. 

The boy could not speak. 

“ Au revoir , Jack; wish me safety — And, Jack, 
I have not asked how you came for me, but you have 
been long away. You must tell Monsieur, your 
Father.” 

One of the soldiers cranked the machine and an¬ 
other mounted beside Monsieur Jean. The men 
were both armed, with guns as well as pistols. 

There was a whirring sound and the beautiful, 
birdlike creature skimmed along the ground and then 
gradually rose. 

Jack got into the waiting auto. 

“ Back to the hotel,” he commanded wearily. He 
was almost ready to cry with disappointment. 
Swiftly they sped back to the town. Jack looked out 
of the open window and saw a sudden flash of bril¬ 
liant light in the air — it was the farewell of Mon¬ 
sieur Jean. He reached the hotel and was just 
paying the taxi driver when his father walked up. 

“ Why, Jack, where have you been? Why aren’t 
you in bed — What does this mean? ” 

“ I’ll tell you all about it, Father,” answered Jack 
in a subdued voice. 

They went into the reading-room and there Jack 
told his father of the whole adventure, from the be¬ 
ginning in Herr Berkmann’s room at the Hotel des 
Saints Peres, up to the events of the evening. 



JACK TELLS HIS FATHER 


125 


Mr. Carter listened in amazement. 

“ Why, Jack, it doesn’t seem possible — Oh, boy, 
boy, if you only were a man and could have gone 
to-night in the aeroplane. What an opportunity.” 

“ But Monsieur Jean wouldn’t let me.” 

“Of course he wouldn’t; he showed some 
grains of common sense there. You two crazy chil¬ 
dren! Think of you climbing up that ivy! It 
doesn’t seem possible.” 

u You see, I couldn’t tell you before. And of 
course you won’t tell now.” 

“ On one condition, Jack,” said his father sternly. 
“ This must be the end for you. You must never 
meddle with this business again. Now to bed. You 
must be dead tired and we start early to-morrow. 
But what has your mother thought? She must 
have been terribly anxious.” 

“ I bet she thought I went out with you,” an¬ 
swered Jack. 

“ Well, we’ll leave it that way.” 

The two went upstairs together. Jack was almost 
too tired to think and his father was too overwhelmed 
to speak. The more he thought the greater grew 
his astonishment. 

He made no remarks when his wife remonstrated 
at Jack’s staying up so late. He only said: 

“ It won’t happen again. I have ordered the 
touring car for nine o’clock, dear, and it is time we 
all followed Alice’s example and went to bed.” 

The next morning at nine o’clock the Carter fam¬ 
ily started in the big touring car. The chauffeur was 



126 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


an independent fellow who had been recommended 
by Monsieur le Croix. His charge was moderate in 
the extreme but did not include his board or the price 
of gasoline. They found that the car and all cost 
them nearly one hundred francs in addition to their 
own board and lodgings. 

“ That seems like a great deal of money,” said 
Alice thoughtfully. “ Lots and lots more than the 
twenty francs you gave us to spend.” 

“ It is more. How much is it in American 
money? ” 

“ Nearly twenty dollars,” gasped Jack. 

They were out of the town now and moving easily 
over the smooth white road, between rows of 
straight, green poplars. Jack was inclined to be 
silent. He was thinking of Monsieur Jean and won¬ 
dering how the adventure had turned out. But Alice 
made up for his silence by chatting away, asking in¬ 
numerable questions. Mr. Carter gave orders that 
they were to proceed slowly so that they could see 
everything along the beautiful river of the Loire. 

“ Where does the river come from? ” asked Alice. 

“ From the mountains in the southeastern part of 
France. The high parts of France are toward the 
east, and so the rivers rise there and flow towards 
the sea. The Seine comes from the Burgundian 
Mountains and flows to Paris, Rouen and the sea. 
The Loire is longer. It flows northwest till it 
reaches Orleans and then makes a big turn to the 
west.” 

The fields were full of vineyards, and the brown- 



JACK TELLS HIS FATHER 


127 


faced peasants were busily gathering the grapes. 
They passed through many small villages, with their 
small stone houses, and their high stone walls. Chil¬ 
dren, with bare feet or shod with sabots (wooden 
shoes) greeted them shyly in answer to Alice’s 
friendly hand-waving. 

“ It is something like Holland. They all seem to 
dress in blue,” remarked Alice. 

“ This is Meung, Kate,” said Mr. Carter as they 
passed through the picturesque old town. “ Don’t 
you remember D’Artagnan’s adventures with ‘ the 
man of Meung ’ ? ” 

A few moments later they reached Beaugency, 
where Francois, the chauffeur, insisted on showing 
them all the objects of interest; an old town gate, a 
beautiful Gothic door, the chateau, and finally the 
long Gothic bridge over the Loire. 

Ten miles more and they saw the town of Blois 
with the castle at the highest point, and the towers 
of the cathedral reaching up, in pious rivalry. 

“ This is what I came to France to see,” said Mr. 
Carter, with a sigh of contentment. 

“ Take us to a good hotel, Frangois. We will 
satisfy the craving of the flesh and then feast our 
spiritual man.” 

After dejeuner , with Francois as guide, they 
wandered through the queer old streets, with their 
frequent flights of stairs, and so, winding about, 
reached the entrance to the chateau. 

Over the doorway is the statue of Louis XII, on 
horseback. His part of the chateau was built of 



128 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


brick In simple Gothic style. Francois rang a bell 
and a woman appeared to take them about. 

“ Daddy, how bright and fresh all the colors 
are,” said Jack. “ It doesn’t seem as though either 
the Revolutionists or the Germans could have been 
here! They seem to have destroyed things almost 
everywhere else.” 

“ They were pretty destructive. As it happens, 
part of the chateau was used as a barracks. But it 
has been very thoroughly, and I think too theatric¬ 
ally, restored.” 

“ What’s that funny animal that was under the 
statue outside?” asked Alice. 

“ That’s the porcupine, the badge of the Orleans 
family. Louis the XII was one of them. Francois 
Premier, who built the finest wing of the chateau, 
had a salamander for his sign — it’s something like 
a lizard, you know.” 

“Francis First — didn’t he say ‘all is lost but 
honor ’ at some battle, and wasn’t he the fellow who 
was knighted by Bayard?” asked Jack. 

“ Right you are, son. Been reading Henty 
lately?” 

“ Yes, Daddy. He really tells you lots of his¬ 
tory.” 

“ Oh, I suppose so.” 

“ Robert,” called Mrs. Carter, “ do look at that 
wonderful staircase. That must be the one you came 
to see! ” 

“ It is indeed, Kate. That, to me, is the most 
beautiful thing yet.” 




Tomb of the children of Charles VIII — Tours 



Emblem of Louis XII — Castle of Blois 

(The House of Orleans) 



































































































* 















% 













































































JACK TELLS HIS FATHER 


129 


“ It looks like the inside of a shell, Daddy,” said 
Alice. 

“ It does indeed; the spiral of a shell. Your friend 
Francois Premier had this built. And I think we 
can forgive him a whole lot of things for that. It is 
enclosed in a sort of open tower. These great win¬ 
dow like openings give us plenty of light by which to 
see the beautiful carvings of the sides and the ceiling. 
And did you notice the salamander in the decora¬ 
tions? ” 

“ How worn the stairs are, Daddy.” 

“ Can’t you imagine all the beauties of the court 
of Francis and Henry marching up and down? 
What room is this, Francois, that one enters from 
the stairs? See the coat of arms with three fleur- 
de-lis over the chimney? ” 

“ It is the council chamber,” answered Frangois. 
“ Before this fireplace it is said that Henri de Guise 
was standing when his royal master sent for him, 
to go to his death.” 

“ Oh, Daddy, tell us about it! ” cried Alice. 

“ Well, I’ll give you a little introduction and then 
Frangois and the guide can fill up details. It was 
after the terrible massacre of St. Bartholomew’s 
Eve, and the wicked, half-crazy King Charles IX 
had died. Henry III was on the throne. And he 
seems to have been weak and worthless, too. The 
Duke of Guise was at the head of a powerful faction 
who were gradually undermining the king’s power. 
They were known as the 4 League ’ and they hated 
and scorned the king. So the king resolved that 



130 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


the Duke must die. Now, Francois, tell us the 
rest.” 

Frangois led them across the room to a secret 
staircase. 

“ There the murderers waited,” he said. “ Then 
they followed him through the little passage to the 
' vieux cabinet ’ which has since been destroyed. 
The king waited in his bedroom to see the affair to 
its end. The Duke had had many warnings, but 
only laughed at them. Notes had come to him in 
handkerchiefs and secret signals had been given. 
But it was to be, a man cannot escape his doom. 
So they fell upon him here in this little room. He 
dragged himself almost to the king’s bed and as he 
lay there, the king struck him with his foot.” 

“ Ugh — what a beast,” said Jack. 

“ Guise was a beast, too, Jack, I am sorry to say. 
When that splendid old Huguenot, Coligni, was 
murdered in Paris, and thrown from the windows, 
Guise struck him with his foot. But it was a terrible 
death, that of Guise. They were awful times.” 

The guide took them into another room and 
showed them the secret cabinet of Catherine de 
Medici, the mother of Henry III. 

“ Their art was so beautiful and their morals were 
so hideous,” said Mrs. Carter. “ Blois seems a ter¬ 
rible place.” 

“ That wasn’t Henry of Navarre, was it, Daddy? 
You know the one in Macaulay’s poem of 1 Ivry.’ ” 

“ No, Jack. The struggle I have been telling you 
about was sometimes called the war of the three 



JACK TELLS HIS FATHER 


131 


Henrys — Henry of Guise, Henry of Navarre and 
Henry the king, his cousin. Henry of Navarre was 
a Huguenot, you know, and I suppose a pretty fine 
man for his times. Certainly he shone by compari¬ 
son with his immediate predecessors. His mother 
was a wonderful woman, a really good woman. I 
am afraid she would not have approved of her son’s 
turning Catholic to get the throne after the death of 
Henry III. You see, it was a different matter those 
days. When you had just seen thousands of Hugue¬ 
nots murdered by Catholics because of their religion, 
it really seemed poor taste, if not downright deser¬ 
tion, to leave that religion and go over to the Catholic 
side. It is reported that he said, ‘ Paris is well worth 
a Mass.’ ” 

“ I don’t believe he had any religious convictions 
at all,” said Mrs. Carter. 

“ Well, he was a great king, for France. Re¬ 
member, beloved, that religion and politics were very 
much mixed in those days.” 

They left the chateau and walked to the gardens 
of the archbishopric, with its view of the river and 
the town. 

“ Why, Daddy, look at the Indian corn growing 
here, in the archbishop’s garden,” cried Jack. 

u Well, well, so it is. Evidently it is regarded as 
a rarity.” 

“ It is beautiful,” said Mrs. Carter. “ It seems 
late for it, though.” 

“ Remember, it’s been a warm summer. This may 
be fall corn, too. It does seem nice and homelike.” 



132 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ I wonder if the bishop’s children smoke corn 
silk,” said Alice thoughtfully. 

“ Why, bishops don’t have children. They don’t 
marry when they’re this kind, goosey,” said Jack. 

“ Some bishops have children! They did in Eng¬ 
land and they do in America.” 

“ Jack means Roman Catholics,” said Mrs. Car¬ 
ter. “ No Roman Catholic priest is allowed to 
marry.” 

“ Sort of like monks, you mean? ” 

“ Very much the same idea.” 

“ I used to think nuns were Mrs. Monks when I 
was a little girl,” remarked Alice thoughtfully. 

“Where do we go to-morrow, Daddy?” 

“ To Chambord, and then to some of the smaller 
chateaux; Cheverny perhaps, Amboise, Chaumont, 
Chenonceaux and then to Tours. I am planning to 
get to Tours day after to-morrow. We really might 
as well take it easy as long as this warm weather 
lasts. Come, Francois, take us back to the hotel. 
All the beauties and horrors of the afternoon have 
given me an appetite.” 



CHAPTER XIV 


TOURAINE — THE CHATEAUX COUNTRY 

The next morning promptly at nine, the faithful 
Francois and his touring car appeared at the hotel 
door and they started for Chambord. Across the 
Loire, through level country they went till they 
reached what is known as the forest. 

“ It’s just scrub oak,” said Mrs. Carter, in con¬ 
siderable disappointment. 

“ Second growth, I suppose,” said Mr. Carter. 
“ There’s the chateau. It looks more like the towers 
and chimneys of a small Oriental city than one cha¬ 
teau.” 

“ Why do you suppose they built it out in this 
wilderness, Robert? It must have been very inac¬ 
cessible.” 

“ I don’t suppose they had to send to Blois for 
their groceries, my dear,” remarked Mr. Carter. 

“ How did they live then?” 

“ Well, I imagine they carried provisions with 
them. They never stayed long in one chateau. 
Perhaps they left when the food gave out. They 
may have lived on wild boar and venison. I am sure 
the courtyard seems built for a chicken run! ” 

“Daddy! Why it was always filled with men- 
at-arms.” 


133 


134 


WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ You are about right, Jack. Well, here we are. 
It certainly is a most impressive, but very homely 
affair.” 

They went in by a small door and were shown 
through empty room after room. 

“ It seems like a palace of the dead,” said Mrs. 
Carter. The guide showed them up the famous 
great double staircase, with the steps running par¬ 
allel but never meeting, except at the top and bottom. 

This was a most delightful way to go! 

They went out on the roof, with the numberless 
little turrets, towers and pinnacles, then down by the 
tower stairs. Everywhere was the salamander of 
Francis I, worked skillfully into the decoration. 

“ On the whole, it is pleasant to be back in the 
auto again and speeding back to Blois and places that 
at least look as if they were inhabited,” said Mr. 
Carter. 

Francois was a little disappointed at their lack of 
enthusiasm. 

“ You must picture it full of richly dressed peo¬ 
ple,” he said. “ You must imagine music, and danc¬ 
ing, hunting and gallantry.” 

“ But I would not like to live there,” insisted 
Alice. 

“ One does not live at court,” declared Francois 
indignantly. Jack and Alice burst out laughing. 
And then with a bang and a jolt, the machine came 
to a standstill. Francois immediately sprang down 
and discovered that one of the back tires had burst. 

“ It will only be a short wait,” he told them. 



TOURAINE — THE CHATEAUX COUNTRY 


.135 


“ Let’s walk on and have Francois overtake us,” 
suggested Jack. So they all started on. 

It was delightful walking along the flat white 
road with its straight trees, like sentinels on either 
side. The peasants whom they met were friendly — 
and spoke with a purity of accent which delighted 
Mr. Carter. They passed through one little village 
where they were having some religious festival. 
The houses and churches were decorated with bright 
colored lanterns. The streets were full of peasants 
in their holiday clothes, and many priests walked 
among them, talking and laughing with their parish¬ 
ioners. 

It was a gay scene; that afternoon, they were 
told, there was to be a procession. 

The Carters went to the little inn and decided to 
lunch there. The long table was already laid for 
the many guests, bottles of red wine had been placed 
and great loaves of bread. 

They sat down and their hostess bustled in and 
bade them welcome. 

“ It is all so friendly,” said Mrs. Carter. 

The words were scarcely out of her mouth when 
a strange voice called out, “ Va-t-en! Va-t-en ” (get 
out). They all jumped. 

“ Where did that come from?” asked Alice. 

t( Mauvais subject ” (scamp), called the voice 
again. 

Jack ran to the door, half expecting to find some¬ 
one there. Alice ran to the window. But Mrs. 
Carter stooped under the table and said “ Shoo.” 



136 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Whereupon a large magpie hopped out and gravely 
remarked, " Bonjour Messieurs” 

“Well, that does beat anything,” said Mr. Car¬ 
ter. 

Shortly after lunch Frangois arrived with the auto. 
He, too, had to be fed, so they sat in front of the 
inn for a while longer and made friends with some 
little girls in white who were to march in the pro¬ 
cession. 

It was with much regret that they left the pleasant 
village and departed on their way. 

The chateau of Chaumont was their next objective 
point. As they crossed over the magnificent bridge 
which connects Chaumont and Onzain, they could 
look back and see Blois fading in the distance and the 
stone towers of the castle of Chaumont in front tow¬ 
ering above them. 

“ The family were away,” so they were told by the 
concierge, and visitors were permitted to enter. 

Two great stone towers guard the entrance to the 
chateau, which seemed built for defense. But the 
interior court, instead of the usual quadrangle, had 
only three sides and commanded a wonderful view of 
the river. 

This was their first really furnished chateau — 
and although Mr. Carter was a little skeptical of 
some of the furnishings, still, who could doubt that 
the bed in the state bedroom was really that of Cath¬ 
erine de Medici, and that the tapestries had hung 
on the wall ever since her day? 




The bed of Catherine de Medici 



































TOURAINE-THE CHATEAUX COUNTRY 


137 


“ I don’t believe the pitcher is old,” said Alice. 
“ It would have been broken long ago.” 

u How awfully uncomfortable the chairs look,” 
said Jack. 

“ But what beautiful carving,” said Mrs. Carter. 

There was so much to be seen that it was quite 
late in the afternoon when they took the auto again. 

“ There really are beautiful trees here,” said Mrs. 
Carter, as they drove slowly through the little park 
and down to the river again. 

After another pleasant spin along the bank, they 
saw the towers of the chateau of Amboise high above 
the river. 

“ It was there,” said Francois, turning around to 
address Mr. Carter, “ that twelve hundred Hugue¬ 
nots were killed and thrown into the river by order 
of the Queen, Catherine de Medici.” 

“ What a horrid person. I wouldn’t have looked 
so cheerfully at her bed if I had known that,” said 
Mrs. Carter. 

“ Frangois, your head is full of horrors,” said Mr. 
Carter. “ Can’t you tell us something pleasant? ” 

“ The country and the little people are pleasant, 
Monsieur — but the nobility and the kings and 
queens were animals,” answered Frangois gravely. 

“ You are a good republican, I see. However 
did you get into this hot bed of royalists? ” 

“ I had the misfortune to be born among them.” 

The next morning they climbed the steep hill up 
to the chateau. Frangois immediately drew atten- 



138 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


tion to the chapel of St. Hubert, built right at the 
edge of the battlements. 

“ Over the doorway is carved the legend of St. 
Hubert, who met with a miraculous stag, in the 
woods near here,” said Frangois. “ Here, Madame, 
is something quaint and beautiful. There is no more 
charming carving in France, I am sure.” 

“ It certainly is fine,” said Mrs. Carter. They 
were shown the interior by a guardian and then pro¬ 
ceeded to the chateau itself. 

“ The two staircases were built as roads,” said 
Frangois, “ so that Monsignor could drive to his 
apartments, forsooth, without putting foot to the 
common ground.” 

“ Mary, Queen of Scots, came here as a bride,” 
said Mr. Carter, turning to Alice and Jack. 

“ Oh, Daddy, did she really? ” 

“ I wonder if she really was as beautiful as they 
say? ” asked Alice. 

“ People certainly were very enthusiastic about 
her,” replied Mr. Carter. 

They stood in the carved balcony, which over¬ 
looks the court of the chateau and the town below. 

“ I think I like Amboise,” said Alice. “ There 
are so many places to look off from. I think Mary, 
Queen of Scots, must have had a beautiful time here 
with her ladies.” 

“ Is there a good inn here, Frangois? ” asked Mr. 
Carter, as they proceeded down the hill from the 
chateau. 

“ If Monsieur does not mind a late lunch, I think* 



TOURAINE — THE CHATEAUX COUNTRY 


i39 


Monsieur will prefer the inn at Chenonceaux. We 
can go there rapidly. It will not be so very 
late.” 

“ All right, we will trust to you.” So they passed 
rapidly through the pretty woods of Amboise to 
the little village on the Cher. There they found 
Frangois’ inn to be most comfortable. 

“ Isn’t this the inn that Henry James described in 
his ‘ Little Tour in France ’? ” asked Mrs. Carter. 

“ Why, to be sure,” answered her husband. 

“ That’s a jolly book to read. We ought to have 
it now. And while you are at Tours you must read 
aloud to the children that book on ‘ Old Touraine ’ 
by some Englishman; Cook, I think his name is.” 

“ Who lived here in this chateau that we’re going 
to, Daddy?” asked Alice. 

“ Ladies chiefly, I think. Diane of Poitiers, our 
old friend Catherine de Medici and lots of other 
royal ladies. Chenonceaux didn’t have so much his¬ 
tory connected with it. The court seems to have 
come here for pleasure.” 

They were approaching the chateau. 

“ It’s so little compared with some of the others,” 
said Jack. 

“ Oh, Daddy! it goes over the river,” cried Alice. 
“ It’s like a bridge.” 

“Yes, Mistress Alice, it is built on the remains 
of an old mill. It is a bridge.” 

“ How pretty it must be looking from the 
windows,” said Mrs. Carter. 

They were admitted into the chateau and walked 



140 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


about for some time. Alice wanted to go to “ the 
bridge part.” 

“ The floors are so beautifully polished, and the 
view so charming out of these windows, I don’t won¬ 
der it was popular with the court ladies,” said Mrs. 
Carter. 

“ I suppose they were going to build a pavilion to 
finish it off and then never had the time,” remarked 
Mr. Carter, as they came to the end of the rooms 
over the river. 

“ It would have been too perfect, if it had been 
complete,” said Mrs. Carter. 

They wandered through the gardens and across 
the river and saw the best view of the chateau, as 
it stood, reflected in the quiet little river. 

“ It looks like fairyland,” said Alice. “ I wish I 
could have seen it when it was waked up, when the 
prince came and kissed the princess.” 

It was hard to tear themselves away, but finally 
Francois announced that the car was ready, so they 
bade farewell to Chenonceaux and were soon going 
slowly towards Tours. 

“ The nicest part of the trip is over, I fear,” said 
Mr. Carter. “ For I must get to work soon. This 
certainly has been a perfect time.” 



CHAPTER XV 


TOURS — AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 
-FRENCH SOLDIERS 

As soon as they arrived at the Hotel l’Univers, 
in Tours, Jack ran to the desk to ask for mail. He 
was delighted to find a telegram, forwarded from 
Orleans and addressed to himself. He tore it open 
and found that it was from Monsieur Jean, in Paris. 

“All well—My work achieved—More later, J. 
N” 

Jack was wild with excitement. He wanted to 
know more. He tried to imagine the long chase 
through the night in the aeroplanes. O, if he could 
only have been there—if he could only go to Paris! 

He took the telegram to his father, fairly dancing 
all the way. 

“ Oh, Daddy, I am crazy to hear what happened.” 

“ Of course you are — so am I. We’ll hear soon, 
I fancy. Perhaps we could ask Monsieur Jean down 
here.” 

“ Why, Daddy, he’s a soldier. He couldn’t come 
visiting.” 

“ True for you, my boy. Well, we certainly 
must hear about the end of your adventure—so cheer 
up.” 

“ To-morrow, we will look up those letters of 

141 


142 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


introduction to people here in Tours,” said Mr. Car¬ 
ter, later in the evening. 

“ The people I want to look up are those nice- 
sounding de Rivieres in the chateau,” said Mrs. 
Carter. 

“ All in good time, my dear. Let me see—Mon¬ 
sieur Joliffe is a retired gentleman of leisure.” 

“ They will probably be very different from our 
Huguenot friends near Orleans, for I understand 
everyone is Catholic here in Tours.” 

“ It’s very strange that the La Croix family should 
have been in Orleans. It’s supposed to be a Jesuit 
city. All this part of France is Catholic royalist. 
Well, they were charming.” 

“ So were the de Tonvilles; they were Catholics.” 

“ Surely. I don’t believe their religion makes 
much difference. There are pleasant people in ev¬ 
ery party; religion and politics are so mixed that 
one cannot separate them apparently. If you’re a 
Catholic you are anti-government and so on.” 

“ Monsieur Jean’s a Catholic and he’s a soldier 
and loves the government,” said Jack. 

“ Well, Jack, all generalities are false, even this 
one,” answered his father. 

The day after Mr. Carter sent his cards of intro¬ 
duction to Monsieur Joliffe. That gentleman called 
the same evening and courteously welcomed them to 
the town. He was a gentleman of the old school 
with whom it was a delight to talk. He offered to 
take them all to the cathedral the next afternoon, and 
bring them back for afternoon tea, gouter after- 




Emblem of Francis I 





































































































































































AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


143 


wards. “ Or perhaps your son would prefer the 
companionship of my young Charles. Perhaps he 
has seen enough cathedrals. The boys could play 
together and join us at gouter ” 

That seemed a pleasant arrangement; only poor 
Alice was aggrieved. She would have preferred 
staying with the boys. She made faces at Jack be¬ 
hind her hand and looked much disgusted. 

“ I am just as sick of cathedrals as Jack,” she 
whispered to her mother. 

“ It would not be considered proper in France, 
my dear,” whispered her mother in return. So 
Alice had to be content to accompany the others to 
the cathedral while Jack and Charles went off to¬ 
gether. But she had a more interesting time than 
she had expected. 

The cathedral with its great rose window and its 
beautiful high arches, impressed her in spite of her¬ 
self. Monsieur Joliffe was a charming guide, and 
finally took them up the little narrow stairs, and 
through the gallery and out onto the roof. There 
they wandered among flying buttresses and gar¬ 
goyles to the towers, which they climbed. Before 
them stretched the beautiful and fertile plains of 
Touraine. 

“ Look over there, Alice, that is Plessis where 
Louis XI had his castle. You remember him in 
Quentin Durward, I am sure, as well as in your 
history,” said Mr. Carter. 

“ It ees not so magnifique to see now, it is a ruine 
entire.” Monsieur Joliffe was trying English for 



i 4 4 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


he feared that madame and mademoiselle did not 
understand French. 

“ And you understand King Louis, he was not 
genereux in his ideas. His chateau was not grand 
like Chambord, or Blois.” 

“ You remember those, Alice?*” asked her mother. 

“ Yes, indeed. Only sometimes I get them mixed 
up.” 

Alice greatly admired some of the gargoyles, as 
they descended, and when the others reentered the 
dark stairway in the body of the church, she lin¬ 
gered behind. Her mother did not discover her 
absence until they were part way down. Then she 
happened to call to her to be careful at a particularly 
dark turn. There was no answer. Instantly Mr. 
Carter and Monsieur Joliffe turned back to see what 
had become of her. 

“ There is really no danger,” assured Monsieur 
Joliffe. u There is only one way. She must have 
lingered somewhere, and will very soon come to 
meet us.” 

Alice, meanwhile, could not find the little entrance 
door, but wandered about the gallery on the outside 
of the tower. It was very high up and she dared 
not look down for she felt giddy. At that moment 
she caught sight of a little wooden door. She had 
not remembered a door when they had come out, 
and felt that she must have forgotten. This one was 
rather hard to open, but she finally pushed it hard 
enough. It opened into a dark passage, just like the 
one by which they had come. She took a few steps 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


145 


cautiously, and then came to another door. This she 
was sure could not be the right way. There had not 
been two doors. She turned to go back and found 
to her dismay that the door had blown shut behind 
her. She was very much frightened, and called for 
help, remembering all the dreadful stories she had 
ever read. Almost instantly the door in front was 
opened. Very little light came in, but enough so 
that she could dimly see a tall figure, who asked her 
in French who she was and what she did there. 
Her terror drove every word of French out of her 
mind; she hardly understood the question. The 
voice, however, was reassuring. In a few moments 
she plucked up a little courage, and murmured, 
“Perdue, perdue” (Lost, lost). She had a vague 
idea of having read a book of that name at school. 
Instantly their followed a torrent of French. But 
the voice was gentle, and sounded like that of an 
old man. She thought of another word. 

“ Descendre” (To go down), she murmured. 

u Vous voulez descendre? ” You wish to go 
down?) 

This time the words were spoken more slowly; 
Alice’s eyes, too, were becoming accustomed to the 
dim light. Her questioner no longer seemed like a 
ghost or a murderer, but was evidently an elderly 
priest. She began to enjoy the adventure and 
bravely tried to remember various French phrases. 

“ Je suis Americaine ” (I am an American). 

“ Mon pere et Monsieur Joliffe et ma mere sont 
descendus” 



146 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


u J*ai voulu regarder les Betes, vous savez” (1 

wanted to look at the animals, you know.) 

A few moments after, when her father and Mon¬ 
sieur Joliffe, now seriously alarmed, pushed open 
the wooden door of the belfry, they found Alice 
and her new friend chatting cheerfully together in 
very simple French. 

There was considerable astonishment, mixed with 
joy. Alice really was glad to be found, although 
she had enjoyed her adventure, and her father was 
naturally much relieved. They bade farewell to the 
old priest, who, Monsieur Joliffe explained after¬ 
wards, was a little weak in the head, “ pas dan¬ 
ger eux, vous savez, O, pas du tout!” (Not dan¬ 
gerous you know, O, not at all.) 

Mrs. Carter had grown very anxious and was 
somewhat inclined to scold Miss Alice. 

“ But, Kate, you ought to have heard the child 
talking French to the old fellow,” said Mr. Carter. 
“ It was wonderful. Alice will have to do all our 
talking now and be our guide.” 

Monsieur Joliffe also made some laughing re¬ 
marks about “ mademoiselle ” and her excellent 
French. “ It is the dark that brought her talents 
to light.” 

Then they came out again upon the street and 
hailed a passing carriage. 

In a short time they were driven to the house of 
Monsieur Joliffe, a charming gray-stone building 
with a little garden and trees in a central court. 
The concierge on the ground floor admitted them 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


147 


and introduced them into the salon. Here they were 
met by Madame Joliffe. 

A neat French servant immediately brought in 
the tea and delicious hot toast and cakes. Now 
Alice became a heroine at once, for Monsieur Joliffe 
insisted on telling the whole story with many little 
embellishments. 

Fortunately Alice did not quite understand it all, 
but she did understand Madame Joliffe’s consterna¬ 
tion. 

“ Dites done , quelle enfant! ” 

At that moment Jack came in with the son of the 
house, a tall, dark-haired French boy of twelve, clad 
in a sailor blouse, knee breeches and socks. He 
spoke some broken English, and evidently wanted 
to talk. But being very well-mannered he kept 
quiet while with his parents and their guests, until 
Madame Joliffe bade the children take their cakes 
outside. So they went out into the garden. 

Of course Alice wanted to tell Jack all about her 
adventure. Charles seemed quite astonished at her 
daring to get lost. 

“ No French young lady would not to dare,” he 
said. 

“ Why not?” asked Alice, “I couldn’t help it.” 

Charles shrugged his shoulders. “ It is not to 
do.” 

Alice laughed, “ You do talk awfully funny Eng¬ 
lish.” 

“ Et bien, speak French,” he replied in French, 
“ and we will see.” 



i 4 8 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Alice, encouraged by her conversation in the 
tower, was about to launch forth, when the children 
were called in by Mr. Carter’s resonant voice. “ It 
is time to go home.” 

They all bade each other farewell, and settled 
upon the next day for an excursion to Chinon. 

After supper, as the Carters were sitting in their 
room, Jack’s mother asked him how he had enjoyed 
the afternoon with Charles. Mr. Carter was busy 
studying time-tables, for he was to leave in two days 
for Paris. 

“ Why, Mother, I can’t understand him, he’s not 
a bit like the boys at home. You ought to have heard 
the way he talked about his teacher, Professor 
Planche. Why, you’d think he were the worst sort 
of a beast, not the kind of man you’d allow in the 
house, just because he isn’t a Catholic.” 

“ Well, Jack,” said his father, “ I have heard 
something of the sort in a political campaign at 
home.” 

“ But, Daddy, Charles is such a kid. What busi¬ 
ness has he to talk that way, anyway? I’d just like 
to hear one of us do it. I know you’d jump on us 
all right.” 

“ Probably, my son, though I think you would do 
the jumping. I don’t know what your young friend 
said, but I suppose his father is one of the Catholic 
Royalist Party, and longs for the good old days of 
kings and parochial schools. It is astonishing, 
Kate,” added Mr. Carter, turning to his wife, “ to 
hear some of these old fellows talk about the gov- 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


149 


ernment and governmental schools. It’s like being 
back in the middle ages.” 

“ Before the flood, and before the independence 
of Texas, Daddy,” said Jack with a grin. 

“ Don’t be saucy, young man. And as far as 
Monsieur Charles is concerned, he’s probably better 
off as he is. You see, Jack, the government con¬ 
sidered that the Catholic schools and convents should 
be treated just like other schools, that they should 
acknowledge the government and in short, behave 
themselves as rational and good citizens. The 
bishops were most of them quite ready to permit 
this, but the Pope vetoed the bill, so the convents 
and schools were closed by the government. Of 
course there was suffering among the nuns and 
priests, but what could you expect? A priest and 
nun must obey the laws or suffer for it. I suppose 
there is some satisfaction in being a martyr.” 

“ And they were real martyrs, too, Robert. You 
read ‘ L’Isolee,’ didn’t you? No? well don’t, then. 
It’s too sad. It is the story of a nun cast out of her 
convent, homeless, friendless, knowing nothing of 
the world, and inexpressibly lonely. Oh, the gov¬ 
ernment has many martyrs to answer for.” 

“ Steady there, Kate. There undoubtedly were 
martyrs, martyrs to obedience, martyrs to an idea, 
but the government can hardly be held responsible. 
It could not prevent the isolation of your poor little 
nun, any more than it could those astonishing scenes 
in some of the churches in Paris, in many of the 
churches in the provinces, where the young royalist 



150 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


and Catholic sympathizers barricaded doors and 
windows as if they expected another reign of terror. 
It is mediaeval, the whole attitude of the Catholic 
Royalist Party. Think of such scenes taking place 
in the last ten years.” 

“ We don’t have that sort of fuss, Dad.” 

“ No, we have our own kind. I am afraid re¬ 
ligion has not much to do with it. Ours is just plain 
lawlessness. But don’t be scornful of the French, 
my boy, they are a wonderful people. Yesterday 
you were laughing at the undersized youngsters you 
saw marching through the streets, and calling them¬ 
selves soldiers. You must remember that the big 
men were killed off in the fierce wars of the last 
century. But these boys will fight all right when 
they have to; only give them half a chance and they 
will go through Europe. But it will not be fellows 
like your friend Charles. Rather will it be men iike 
Monsieur Jean.” 

“ What can you expect from a boy who never 
even was called Charlie? ” said Alice coming into the 
room at that moment. 

“ I think nicknames are a great mistake, my 
dear,” said her mother. “ I wish we had a little 
more formality in our homes.” 

“ Now come, Kate, you wouldn’t want to call 
‘ Jack ’ ‘ John Alden,’ ” said Mr. Carter gravely. 
There was a general laugh. 

“ Who wants to go out and see the boys march? 
I heard a bugle a moment ago down by the river; 
come on everybody.” 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


151 


“ Hurrah! ” 

There was a general scramble for hats and the 
lour hurried down the stairs, and out into the gray 
old street. 

The trilling note of the bugle called them down 
the narrow side streets to the broad avenue on the 
river bank. There they found a red-legged com¬ 
pany of infantry marching along with the tri-color 
waving over their heads. 

“ It’s the Marseillaise, Robert,” Mrs. Carter said, 
taking her husband’s arm. “ I can never hear it 
without thrilling.” 

“ ‘ A lions enfants de la Patrie.* Come on, we will 
follow them a bit,” was his reply. 

The four joined a small crowd of boys and men 
watching the troops. They seemed tired and hot 
and did not march in the best of order. Their 
baggy red trousers and dirty jackets and small 
fatigue hats did not add to their appearance. 

Mr. Carter said, “ I wonder where they’ve 
been. I’m going to ask this young officer who is 
riding slowly in front of us.” 

“ But, Daddy, wouldn’t he think it queer, he 
doesn’t know you?” asked Alice. 

“ I don’t believe he will object. You might ask 
him, Jack.” 

“ I can’t talk French,” answered that young man 
with disgust. 

“ Jack can only say, Merci, and avez vous un 
gigot de mouton and gateaux” said Alice scornfully. 

“ Well, it’s a shame, Kate! Here those two kids 



152 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


have had a French governess and have been to an 
expensive school and they can’t even say ‘ No ’ to a 
beggar, and have him understand. I think we will 
have to try a public school. I always said —” 

“ But, Daddy,” interrupted Jack, “ the public 
schools don’t have French till the High School 
grade. And anyway, talking here is so different 
from reading in school.” 

“ And I can talk French,” added Alice. 

“ Humph, well, I will ask him myself.” 

Mr. Carter approached the officer and in excel¬ 
lent French asked him where the troops had been. 
Alice followed him closely, for to tell the truth, 
the young officer in his trim uniform, gallantly riding 
a spirited horse, was handsome to behold. 

“ They have been marching all day, field prac¬ 
tice,” was the answer. 

“ Ah, you are getting ready to carry the war into 
Africa,” said Mr. Carter, half laughing. But there 
was no laugh on the face of the young officer as he 
replied: 

“Wherever we are called, Monsieur; Africa, 
Lorraine, it is all one to us.” 

“ So long as the enemy remains the same?” 

“ France has only one real enemy,” was the an¬ 
swer. 

“ Your boys look very young, Monsieur,” said 
Mr. Carter thoughtfully after a moment. 

“The army is not their profession; in France 
every boy must learn to defend his country, but after 
serving his time, he is ready to take up a peaceful 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


i53 


occupation. We are not a nation of fighters, we 
love peace. But we must be ready, every one of us 
to defend our country. I have the honor to wish 
you good evening, Monsieur.” 

The troops marched on, and when they had 
passed, the four wandered along the river bank — 
so quiet, so peaceful. 

“ Why should there be a war, Father,” asked 
Jack. 

“ There should not be, but alas! there might be.” 

“ I don’t believe those boys could do much,” said 
Alice. “ Why, our West Point men could beat 
them anywhere.” 

“ Well, I’m not saying they couldn’t. I’m too 
good a Texan not to back the U. S. A. But those 
boys can fight, their fathers have proved it, even if 
their line of march is a bit straggling. You will 
have to go to Berlin to see real marching. Even 
West Point Cadets, men, as you call them, can learn 
something there.” 

“ But it’s not all marching, Daddy.” 

“What isn’t all marching, Jack?” 

“ Well, war, and being a soldier, and fighting for 
one’s country and all that.” 

Mrs. Carter laughed. “ That’s just what your 
father has been saying, children.” 

“ And now Jack has discovered it all by himself,” 
teased Alice. 

“ General Sherman said war was very different 
from marching. He said it was —” 

“ Now, Robert,” remonstrated Mrs. Carter. 



154 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Well, come along and let’s have some gateaux 
at that patisserie on the Rue Royal.” 

“Oh, Daddy, hurrah!” 

“ And after that bed.” 

“ Oh, it’s awfully early.” 

“ You haven’t eaten your gateaux yet; come, don’t 
borrow troubles, they will arrive soon enough.” 

They turned down some little quiet streets, where 
it was darker than on the river bank, and into the 
lane that led to the great cathedral, looming vast 
in the twilight. Only the beautiful towers and rose 
window were bright with the last rays of the setting 
sun. 

They passed some black-robed priests, hurrying 
mysteriously into the cathedral close. 

“ I feel as if I were a character in Dumas, Le 
Brave Bussy, or the fellow in La Reine Margot; 
what was his name, Kate? Jack, don’t you remem¬ 
ber? ” 

“ I never read it, Daddy.” 

“ I suppose not. I suppose Colomba, and Cinq 
Mars are your highest hopes at present. Just you 
wait; you don’t like French, but there are more 
thrillers in Dumas than you dream of.” 

“ Robert, what are you saying? Why of course 
they would not be allowed to read Dumas.” 

“ I’ve read some of the 4 Three Musketeers,’ ” 
whispered Alice to Jack. “ Fanny has it in English 
at home.” 

“ What are you youngsters whispering? Did you 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE CATHEDRAL 


155 


say you had read some of Dumas, Alice? Did you 
like it?” 

“ Why, yes, but 1 thought it was queerly written.” 

“Well, Kate! Out of the mouths of babes and 
sucklings! Listen to me, Miss Alice, the cheap Eng¬ 
lish editions of Dumas are hardly worth reading by 
any one. But when you learn French enough, I will 
present you with all the best of his novels in French, 
and I will promise you a treat. Kate, just think of 
reading La Reine Margot, and La Dame de Mon- 
sereau for the first time. 

( Devot et tendre aussi , 

C’est le brave Bussy / 

Here we are, the Rue Royal. Now for the 
patisserie” 

The street was brightly lighted, and well filled 
with people strolling about in the cool of the even¬ 
ing. 

“ This is more like America, Father,” said Alice, 
“ with all the people, and shops and trolleys. The 
houses are all new, too.” 

“ Haven’t you learned to say tramvays, my 
dear?” laughed Mr. Carter. “This is a nice-look¬ 
ing shop. I like the little tables outside. Come, 
let’s sit down. Perhaps they will even have des 
glaces” 

The small, fat proprietor, enveloped in a large 
white apron, came out, and affably bade them wel¬ 


come. 



156 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Now, Jack, ask for your cakes and ices, boy.” 

“ Daddy, I can’t.” 

“ Don’t be silly.” 

“ I’ll do it, Father,” Alice volunteered. 

“ Monsieur, est-ce que vous avez des gateaux et 
des glaces?” (Have you cakes and ices?) 

“ Mats oui, Mademoiselle,” and he rattled off 
some rapid French sentences, that even Mr. Carter 
found difficult to follow. With a lordly air, how¬ 
ever, he bade the proprietor bring them “ quatre 
glaces et des gateaux — Babas — Brioches — Napo¬ 
leons — tout-ce-que vous avez” 

The proprietor disappeared, but presently re¬ 
turned with four miniature sherry glasses, in each 
of which was a teaspoonful of water ice, and a huge 
tray full of pastry cakes of all sorts and descrip¬ 
tions. 

“ Monsieur is satisfied? ” 

“More than satisfied; the difficulty is in 
choosing among such delicacies.” 

The proprietor beamed and in due time the cakes 
were chosen. Jack always chose solid ones, while 
Alice liked the ones which, as she said, “ were full 
of squush.” 

They were all delightfully tired when they re¬ 
turned to the Hotel l’Univers and the children, 
in spite of their former remonstrances, were not 
sorry to go to bed. 

“ We must be up early to-morrow to start for 
Chinon,” called Mr. Carter. That was the last that 
Alice heard as she dropped to sleep. 



CHAPTER XVI 


MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS — LANGEAIS 

-ALICE AND MRS. CARTER VISIT A BARONESS 

But the next morning Mr. Carter received two 
telegrams which interrupted their plans for the day. 
One was from Mers. 

“ We are frozen, can you not come for us? 

“ Emily Ford.” 

The other was from a business friend in Paris 
asking for an appointment. Mr. Carter instantly 
sent a return telegram to Miss Ford: 

“ Be ready to leave Mers to-morrow at noon. 

“ Robert Carter.” 

and made his business appointment for the evening 
of the next day. 

“ Now, Jack, you have two hours to pack,” said 
his father. 

“ Why, Daddy, where am I going? ” 

“ You are going back to Paris with me. Your 
mother and I have talked it over and have decided 
to send you to an English school near Paris; the 
same that Roger de Tonville goes to. You are 
losing too much of your school time.” 

Jack stared in amazement. But he thought in- 
157 


158 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


stantly that in Paris he would be able to see Mon¬ 
sieur Jean and his face grew radiant. 

“ O, Daddy, what fun. Hurrah! Alice! I am 
to go back to Paris to school — Jimminy! but that’s 
great.” He rushed upstairs to do his packing. 

“ Kate, our birds are getting ready to fly,” said 
Mr. Carter, half sadly. “ They seem to like it, 
too. I suppose Alice will be getting married before 
we know it.” 

“ Robert — how silly — she’s only ten. I must 
help Jack and you with your packing now, so I 
haven’t time for such nonsense. Jack hasn’t many 
clothes, but I suppose Mademoiselle can get them 
in Paris.” 

“ Not on your life, Kate. I’ll get ’em myself. 
She’d have him wearing kilts and sailor suits! But 
I fancy I can find an English or American store 
somewhere.” 

The packing was soon done and then a lunch was 
brought and then came the farewells. Mrs. Carter 
had tears in her eyes as she bade good-by to her 
boy. 

“You won’t be home till Christmas,” she said. 

“ Oh, Jack — be a good boy and don’t get home¬ 
sick and remember to write me often and don’t forget 
to change your underclothes twice a week.” 

Alice was really crying. 

“Jack, what will I do alone here?” she said. 

“ I’ll be back before you know it,” said Jack. 

He was getting a bit teary himself and wanted to be 
off without “ making a girl of himself.” 



MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 


1 59 V 


“ Good-by, Mother. I won’t forget. Good-by, 
Alice. Write me lots and I’ll tell you all the things 
that I can.” 

Mrs. Carter whispered some last words to her 
husband. “ If the school doesn’t seem all right you 
will bring him back, won’t you?” were her parting 
words. 

“ Cheer up, Kate darling. I’ll be back with the 
babies soon, and you and Alice must be brave and 
jolly and have a good time. The Joliffes will be 
nice to you, I’m sure, and you must send your letters 
to the de Rivieres at once.” 

“ How soon will you be back? ” 

“ Probably in ten days. It’s my last chance at 
some men I want to see in Paris. You see I’ve got 
to do some business now. Perhaps I will ship Made¬ 
moiselle and babies down to you. I can send them 
from Paris on a through train. Could you stand 
the added responsibility alone? I hate to leave you 
here to get settled alone in the hotel. It’s forlorn. 
Perhaps the Joliffes could find lodgings for you. 
We must be off now. Good-by, honey, and don’t 
get too blue, all alone in a strange land. And 
good-by, Alice, take good care of your mother.” 

Mr. Carter and Jack jumped into the hotel om¬ 
nibus, with their bags. Jack’s trunk was already on 
top. They were off I 

Mrs. Carter and Alice watched them go and then 
went back into the hotel, where they found Madame 
Joliffe. It was a pleasant surprise. Of course on 
receiving the word from Mers, Mr. Carter had tele- 




i6o WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


phoned at once to the Joliffes, breaking the engage¬ 
ment to go to Chinon. 

“ It certainly was sweet of you to come right over 
to see us, Madame,” said Mrs. Carter. 

“ I thought I might help you,” answered that 
lady. She and Mrs. Carter talked to each other, 
each in her own language. Mrs. Carter could un¬ 
derstand French fairly well, but she acknowledged 
with shame that she could not speak it. 

“ My tongue is too accustomed to German,” she 
said. “ When we go there, I will be the interpre¬ 
ter.” 

Madame Joliffe understood English but never, 
never, never could she master that outrageous lan¬ 
guage, she had declared to her husband. 

Mrs. Carter explained their change of plans and 
asked Madame Joliffe’s advice as to lodgings. 

“ How long will you be here?” asked Madame. 

“ That I cannot tell, until we hear from Monsieur 
— but we hate hotels.” 

“ Of course. Ah, if only that miserable gover- 
ment had left us our beloved Augustine Convent! 
They would have made you so comfortable, the dear 
sisters! ” 

“ Why, Mother, do nuns take boarders ? ” asked 
Alice. 

“ These did, I fancy. I wish they were here, 
Madame.” 

“ We will see what we can do. In the meanwhile 
you and the little one must have dejeuner with me. 
We can talk things over better at home. And why 



MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 


161 


can we not go to one of the chateaux to-morrow? 
We do not need to wait for your husband. Mon¬ 
sieur Joliffe will take us.” 

Mrs. Carter and Alice were only too happy to 
lunch with the Joliffes. Monsieur was also at home. 
Mrs. Carter asked him about presenting her letter 
to Madame de Riviere. 

It seemed that the de Rivieres and the Joliffes 
were acquainted. “ They are charming, delightful,” 
said Monsieur. “ Madame la Baronne is a widow 
who lives with her brother and her two daughters. 
They are of the old nobility. They have such a 
charming chateau, not too old but furnished 
comme il faut.” 

“ Are they at home now?” asked Mrs. Carter. 

“ Yes, indeed — they do not go to Paris until the 
end of November. One of the young ladies is at 
school in Paris but the other is still with her mother. 
O, they are charming little ladies.” 

“ O, Mother,” whispered Alice, “ it would be 
fine to see a girl of my age.” 

After talking the matter over with Madame 
Joliffe, Mrs. Carter decided to remain with Alice 
at the hotel until they should hear from Mr. Carter. 
Madame, however, gave them little hope of finding 
an apartment for so short a time as they would re¬ 
quire. 

“ The only thing that I know of,” she said, “ be¬ 
longs to a friend of mine. She is planning to go 
for one of the winter months to Paris, but I do not 
know when. She usually closes her apartment for 



162 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


that month. It might be that we could persuade 
her to go in November.’* 

“ That would be fine for us, but I do not like the 
idea of turning your friend out.” 

“ Let us wait and see. Meanwhile if you are not 
tired of seeing chateaux will you not come with us 
to Langeais to-morrow? Monsieur Joliffe has en¬ 
tree there, for Monsieur S. is a dear friend of ours. 
He is away, alas! but the domestics will show us 
about.” 

Mrs. Carter and Alice accepted with pleasure. 

“ Will you not make yourselves at home here, 
Madame Carter? The salon is more comfortable, 
I am sure, than your hotel rooms, and you can read 
or sew while the little one plays in the garden.” 

Mrs. Carter thanked them most gratefully and 
said that they would surely come some other day. 
To-day they would take a drive out to the old ruins 
of Marmoutier and around in the vicinity and do 
some shopping. 

“ To-morrow, then, you will take dejeuner with 
us and we will go out to Langeais.” 

And so it was decided. 

The next morning came a telegram from Mr. 
Carter. 

“ Mademoiselle has pneumonia — cannot travel. 
Stay on with twins at Saints Peres. The rest well. 
Will write.” 

“ I think we ought to go back to Paris,” said Mrs. 
Carter. “ The children cannot stay there alone with 
your father. Perhaps Miss Ford will bring them 



MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 163 


on. I wish I had not sent my letter to Madame de 
Riviere.” 

“ Daddy said he’d write,” said Alice. 

“ Well, I will be glad to hear. I hope Made¬ 
moiselle is not very ill.” 

They went out shopping that morning. There 
did not seem to be many things to buy, but Mrs. 
Carter wanted some photographs for her journal 
and Alice had lost her best gloves in the carriage 
the day before. 

Alice had become quite a good French scholar 
and enjoyed talking to the shopkeepers. They 
stopped at the cathedral on the way back to the 
hotel; Mrs. Carter liked to sit and think in the dim 
quiet aisles. Alice would leave her sitting and wan¬ 
der about looking at the carvings and stained glass 
windows. She had a very friendly feeling towards 
the cathedral, ever since she had been lost there. 
She wondered if her friend, the priest, still lived up 
in the tower. She discovered the two little marble 
children of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany 
lying side by side, in their queer stiff clothes, with 
the kneeling angels and dolphins. She wanted to 
know more about them, but her mother could not 
tell her. Indeed, Mrs. Carter thought that they 
might be two boys. But Alice was sure they were 
a boy and a girl. So she pictured little Anne and 
Charles (so she named them) playing together. 
She wasn’t sure just how a prince and princess would 
amuse themselves, but she hoped the dolphins were 
real, and nice to play with. 



164 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


The chateau of Langeais was but a short ride in 
the train from Tours. The little party, consisting 
of Monsieur and Madame Joliffe, Mrs. Carter and 
Alice, arrived shortly before three. The houses of 
the little village clustered at the foot of the chateau, 
and pleasant, sunburned peasant faces looked out 
upon the strangers as they passed. 

Langeais was more fortified than had been Che- 
nonceaux and Cheverny. Monsieur Joliffe led them 
around the gardens and finally into the charming 
little enclosed court, where a servant bade them go 
about freely. She knew Monsieur Joliffe and was 
sure her master would be glad to have them feel 
perfectly at home. 

The great hall was most impressive. 

“ This is where Charles VIII and Anne of Brit¬ 
tany were married,” said Madame Joliffe. 

“ O, Mother, they were the father and mother 
of the little marble children,” exclaimed Alice. 

The little spiral staircases which led to the upper 
floors were enclosed in three corner towers. 
Around the battlements one could walk in an en¬ 
closed passage and look out upon the distant country 
beyond the river. 

It was easier to believe that real people had lived 
here, and children, little Anne and Charles; the 
rooms were furni§hed as they might have been in 
the old days, with quaint old tables and chairs. 
Rich tapestries hung on the stone walls and old rugs 
and skins were on the floors. The windows were 
narrow and deep-set. 



MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 165 


They wandered about for several hours and then 
decided to drive back to Tours, en voiture. They 
found no very comfortable carriage and Monsieur 
Joliffe was somewhat apologetic. 

“ There is no train until very late. Madame 
Joliffe and I enjoy such rides, but you, Madame, 
may feel ill at ease.” 

Mrs. Carter and Alice were overjoyed at the 
curious old carts in which they were forced to sit, 
and the blue-clad peasants who drove them. 

“We can get out before we reach the city and 
ride on the tramvay,” added Monsieur Joliffe; to 
which Mrs. Carter acquiesced. 

The drive back over the long white road, with its 
straight rows of poplars and the blue, peaceful river 
at their right proved delightful, although the 
springs of the carts left something to be desired. 
Once they went through a little side road between 
gray walls. In the fields were many women at work 
and they met an old peasant woman bringing home 
her sheep. She was spinning wool as she went 
along. 

“ Voila, petite ” said Madame to Alice. “ She 
takes the wool from her sheep, separates it and spins 
it and makes it into stockings, all as she goes from 
day to day watching her flock.” 

Before they reached Tours, they descended from 
their high seats and paid the good-natured driver. 
Alice hated the thought of taking a “ stupid old 
tram,” but sat back with a sigh, nevertheless, in the 
comfortable seat of the car. 



1 66 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Madame tried to persuade them to return to din¬ 
ner, but Mrs. Carter wanted to go to the hotel so 
that she might not miss any word from her hus¬ 
band. 

“ We may be called to Paris, you see, and must 
be ready,” she explained. They found a long letter 
from Mr. Carter waiting for them. He wrote that 
Mademoiselle was much better — might be able to 
travel in a week. Meanwhile Miss Ford had b een 
called back to England by the death of a relative and 
he had engaged an Irish nurse to see to the twins. 
Madame de Tonville had found her, indeed, had 
known about her for some years. She was not too 
young, jolly and obliging, and very anxious to be 
with an American family. Madame de Tonville 
had been most kind. A trained nurse was caring 
for Mademoiselle and the twins were well and radi¬ 
ant. Bob was insisting on wearing socks but stock¬ 
ings should be immediately ordered. 

“ And now, my dears, I have a piece of delightful 
news for you. I met a Monsieur le Doux here at 
Monsieur de Tonville’s and found him most courte¬ 
ous and hospitable. He turned out to be the brother 
of Madame de Riviere, to whom you have sent 
your letters. As soon as he heard of your lonesome 
plight in Tours, he wrote to his sister and within a 
few days she will call to invite you and Alice to 
visit her at the chateau. 

“ Now are you not glad that the twins and I 
are in Paris, for they surely could not have asked 
the whole family. You will have a most interesting 

















































. 





•• 





























A 













































MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 167 


and pleasant time. Madame is alone now, with one 
little girl about Alice’s age. They have a real farm 
beside the chateau, which latter is not too old to be 
comfortable.” 

Alice and Mrs. Carter, too, were all excitement 
at the news. 

“ Oh, Mother, how soon do you suppose she will 
come? Will she really ask us? ” 

“ I do hope your father didn’t suggest the thing 
himself,” said Mrs. Carter. “ He sometimes for¬ 
gets that every one is not given to Texan hospitality. 
But it certainly will be pleasant. After all, suppose 
he did suggest it? He was a dear to think of it, 
wasn’t he, Alice? He certainly does think of all 
the nicest things for us.” 

“ Dad is a brick,” was Alice’s quick reply. “ I 
wish he were going with us. We won’t dare go out 
now, for fear of missing Madame.” 

Mrs. Carter laughed and sat down to write a long 
letter to Paris. 

“ Your father didn’t speak of Jack, but of course 
he’s all right.” 

“ Surely, Mother. He said ‘ all well.’ ” 

A few days passed, pleasantly enough. There 
were walks along the river banks, where number¬ 
less patient and futile fishermen could always be 
seen, perfectly happy and never successful. There 
were excursions to the neighboring suburbs, and the 
cathedral ever stood waiting to welcome them into its 
calm seclusion. The little marble children still in¬ 
terested Alice. She thought of them now at Lan- 



168 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


geais. They saw a good deal of Monsieur and 
Madame Joliffe and met some French friends of 
theirs, who proved to be charming. Priests and 
nuns frequented the house, and were received with 
the most generous hospitality by Madame Joliffe. 

“ Poor souls, they are as sheep without a fold,” 
she would say. 

“ Where is Charles? ” asked Alice one day. 

“ He is at school — at the military school of 
Saint Cyr,” answered Madame. “ Some day when 
there is to be a fine manoeuvre we will go there.” 

Alice opened her eyes with delight. 

“ I wish it were near enough for us to go,” she 
thought. 

One afternoon, on their return from a visit at the 
Joliffe’s, they found a large automobile in front of 
the hotel with a coronet on the panel of the door. 

“ Madame la Baronne de Riviere ” had come 
to see them and was even now waiting in the hotel 
parlor. 

She was a simply dressed, pretty woman, with 
soft brown eyes — quite small and dainty in ap¬ 
pearance. She spoke beautiful English and Alice 
decided that this was what a baroness ought to be 
like. She asked all sorts of questions, especially of 
Alice. 

“ My little girl is your age, I think,” she said. 
“ You must become friends. She is lonely in her 
big room now that her sister is at school.” 

Then Madame told them that she surely expected 
them for a visit at the chateau. 



MR. CARTER AND JACK GO TO PARIS 169 


“ You must stay for a week, at least,” she said. 
“ Or until Monsieur Carter returns. It is too for¬ 
lorn here at the hotel. We are not gay, Agnes and 
I, but at least you will be comfortable and in a 
home.” 

“ But Madame, you cannot wish to have abso¬ 
lute strangers descend on you in this way.” 

“ But we do not consider you as strangers. ‘ Les 
amis de nos amis sont nos amis! (The friends of 
our friends are our friends.) The de Tonvilles 
are very intimate with us and Monsieur and Madame 
Lawrence from whom you had a letter of intro¬ 
duction have been life-long friends. Madame Law¬ 
rence was at school with me and it was through her 
husband that I met Monsieur de Riviere. It is a 
debt I can never repay.” 

So it was arranged that the next day Madame 
should send her big touring car and take Mrs. Car¬ 
ter, Alice and their baggage out to the chateau. 

“ If only Jack were going,” said Alice. Both she 
and her mother missed him a great deal, and his 
letters were not as frequent as those of Mr. Carter. 



CHAPTER XVII 


THE CHATEAU DE RIVIERE-THE GHOST ROOM — 

UNCLE HENRI’S HISTORY 

The chateau de Riviere was a charming place, 
built in the last century, after the accession of Na¬ 
poleon at the close of the Revolution. It was sur¬ 
rounded by a park and beautiful gardens, and its 
gray towers rose above the trees in friendly fashion. 
The interior had been refinished by the late Baron 
and was most comfortable, although furnished in 
keeping with the exterior. There were many suites 
of rooms, one of which was occupied by Madame de 
Riviere and her daughters,— another by her 
brother, Monsieur le Doux, and a third was given 
over to Mrs. Carter and Alice. 

Their breakfast was brought to them each morn¬ 
ing on a little tray and a pretty French maid was 
ready at all times to be of use to them. Agnes de 
Riviere was like her mother, slim and dark; ex¬ 
quisite in her manners and a charming dancer. She 
seemed almost afraid of Alice, yet glad to be with 
her and show her about in the chateau and through 
the grounds. She was lonely and imaginative. Her 
room was full of religious images, and pictures, 
much to Alice’s astonishment, and she explained them 
all to her. If one lost anything one prayed to St. 
Anthony; if one had any great desire one prayed to 

170 


THE CHATEAU DE RIVIERE 


171 


another saint. Alice found a long string of beauti¬ 
ful gold and black beads and was told it was a 
rosary, blessed by the Pope. 

“ I say one prayer for each bead,” explained Ag¬ 
nes, “ then I will be sure not to forget any.” 

But the inhabitant of the chateau that won Alice’s 
heart was a great black dog, Danish and almost as 
big as herself, short-haired, with affectionate brown 
eyes, and long drooping ears; he followed Madame 
de Riviere everywhere. Often he would lay his 
head and one of his forepaws on her lap. 

“ He does not know, poor thing, that he is so 
enormous,” she would say. 

Agnes seemed a little afraid of him but Alice tried 
to make friends at once. 

“ He loves to be noticed,” said Madame de Ri¬ 
viere, delighted to find someone else to sympathize 
in her fondness for her pet. 

Every afternoon they walked or drove and then 
returned for gouter , served in the garden. Madame 
de Riviere sang beautifully and in the evening 
they had music. Often friends would come and join 
them. Madame was most hospitable, yet always 
seemed to hold herself a little aloof. 

“ I love her, Mother,” said Alice on the second 
day of her visit. “ But why does she seem so 
sad?” 

As Agnes was showing her through the library 
one day they came upon a door, finely carved, and 
so much like the panels of the woodwork that Alice 
would not have noticed it, had not Agnes remarked: 



172 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Colne quickly, do not linger near this door.” 

“ Why not? ” asked Alice promptly. 

“ Because we are never allowed to enter. It leads 
into a ghost room.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“ I mean that strange sounds are heard there. No 
one has been allowed to go in there since my Uncle 
Henri disappeared into that room, and never came 
out.” 

“Whew!” said Alice. “I thought he was in 
Paris.” 

“ No, that is my Uncle Raoul. My Uncle Henri 
was my father’s brother. He was young and hand¬ 
some and killed a man in a duel and then disap¬ 
peared in the room that lies beyond that door. We 
hardly ever speak of him.” 

“ Does your mother cry when you do?” 

“ Yes. She is sad when she thinks of it.” 

“When did he disappear?” 

“ Soon after I was born. I never saw him. But 
we may not enter the room; my mother has the key. 
Such noises are heard! They say that the ghost 
killed my Uncle Henri.” 

“ Let’s run,” said Alice. 

And they both ran. Nevertheless Alice thought 
much about the door, and the haunted room. She 
liked to think of the handsome Uncle Henri who 
had disappeared. 

“ If only Jack were here,” she thought. “ He’d 
go in and see the ghost, but I don’t dare.” 

That evening Mrs. Carter said, “ You seem very 



THE CHATEAU DE RIVIERE 


173 


fond of your dog, Madame de Riviere, and he is 
a noble creature.” 

“ He belonged to my husband’s brother who is 
dead,” replied Madame de Riviere quietly. 

“ Uncle Henri! ” thought Alice. 

She was awakened that night by a long mournful 
sound like the howl of a dog. It seemed to come 
from somewhere near her room. It was strange 
and weird in the dark night. 

“ It’s only the dog,” thought Alice, shivering. 
“ He has probably been shut out of Madame’s room 
by mistake.” She lay in bed trembling. There came 
another mournful sound but it was more muffled — 
it seemed farther away. Presently she fell asleep. 

The next day she asked Agnes where the dog, 
Ogier, slept at night. 

“ Why, out in the stable,” answered Agnes. 

“ He was in the house last night. I heard him,” 
said Alice. 

Agnes’ eyes grew big with wonder. 

“ It must have been the ghost,” she gasped. 
“ You know the library is right under your room.” 

“ It was the dog,” said Alice. “ What nonsense. 
I don’t believe there is any ghost.” 

Nevertheless she lingered at bedtime and begged 
her mother to come up and kiss her good-night when 
she was in bed. Mrs. Carter was a little sur¬ 
prised. “ Why, of course I will, don’t I always, 
goosey? ” 

“Yes, but be sure to.” 

She hadn’t told her mother about the ghost. In 



174 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


the daytime she still clung to her belief that the 
sounds she had heard were only Ogier, and now she 
did not dare to think of it. 

It rained that night in torrents. Alice could not 
sleep. Suddenly she heard the same mournful howl. 

“ It is the dog,” she thought to herself. “ I know 
it is. I am going to see.” 

She slipped on her wrapper and slippers and softly 
w r ent to the door and out into the hall. 

There was no sound there. She tiptoed to the 
head of the stairs — everywhere was darkness and 
silence. 

An irresistible impulse drew her down the stairs 
and into the library. Still nothing but silence and 
darkness. Then she distinctly heard the sound of 
light footfalls on the floor, and a scratching noise. 
Then came a whine and long drawn howl. It surely 
came from behind the mysterious door. 

“ Ogier, Ogier,” said Alice. ^ “ Vietts icif ” 
(Come here.) 

There was a quick bark and the scratching sound 
redoubled. 

“ There isn’t any ghost, it’s Ogier — and he gets 
in there somehow from the stable. He goes there 
to try and find Uncle Henri;” so thought Alice. 
She tried to open the door but couldn’t. 

Gradually the sounds died away and Alice went 
back to bed. The next day she asked to be allowed 
to go out to see the horses and the pony in the stable. 
Agnes and the French maid took her out. The 
stable was at some little distance from the house, 



THE CHATEAU DE RIVIERE 


i75 


a great stone building where the men servants of 
the chateau lived on the floor above the horses and 
farm animals. An old groom was cleaning off the 
little pony cart when they arrived and Madame’s 
chauffeur was directing another man who was 
blowing up the automobile tire. Alice and Agnes 
went in to see the pony which the groom showed to 
them. He was an old Irishman who had been “ Un¬ 
cle Henri’s ” servant. 

“ Do you take care of Ogier? ” she asked him. 

“ Yes,” he said. He could speak either French 
or English and now spoke to the little American 
girl in her own language. 

“ Does he ever run away at night? ” she asked. 

The old fellow looked at her suspiciously. 

“ No,” he answered quite crossly. But Alice felt 
that he was not telling the truth. 

“ I heard the ghost last night,” she said suddenly. 

“ Laws, Miss, what are you saying — no one has 
heard the ghost for months.” 

“ It sounded to me like the howling of a dog,” 
said Alice. 

The groom stared. 

“ I am sure Ogier was in the chateau last night,” 
she said positively. 

All this time the French maid had been talking 
and laughing with Madame’s chauffeur. Agnes 
stood listening to Alice with wide-open eyes. 

“ Didn’t he get away last night? Now do tell 
me. I’ll promise not to tell. I heard him in the 
ghost room,” she added in a low voice. 



176 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Ryan, the groom, suddenly uttered an exclama¬ 
tion. 

“ It’s truth, Miss, he got away last night There 
was no holding him. But how in the name of good¬ 
ness he got into the house passes me, for it rained 
in torrents and he was as dry as a bone when he got 
back.” 

“ He was in the ghost room,” said Alice. “ He 
was looking for Uncle Henri.” 

Ryan turned quite pale. 

“ Oh, Miss,” he said, “how could he get there? 
It was my poor master spirited away by the evil one 
that you heard.” 

“ Your poor master must have been a dog, then,” 
said Alice. “ I know it was Ogier, ’cause he barked, 
and scratched to get out when I called his name.” 

“ Where were you, Miss? ” 

“ In the library.” 

“ At night, Miss, alone! ” 

“ I was awfully scared,” said Alice, “ but I 
wouldn’t be scared if you were there. You let Ogier 
loose to-night and come into the library with me.” 

“ But, Miss, it’s as much as my place is worth.” 

“ Agnes won’t tell, will you? You can come, too, 
if you want. We must find out how Ogier gets 
there.” 

“ We should tell the Madame,” said Ryan. “ But 
I don’t dare speak to her about that room. You see, 
Miss, the men were after the master for killing of 
a count in a duel and he slipped into that secret 
room back of the library and when Madame and 




W here the sun never shone — The dungeon at Loches 




THE CHATEAU DE RIVIERE 


177 


the rest of us went to find him after the men were 
gone, he was gone, too — clean spirited out of the 
tight room and no one could find him. That was 
ten years since and never a word from him.” 

“ If Ogier can get in, he could get out, Ryan,” 
said Alice suddenly. 

The old fellow’s face fairly shone. 

“Oh, Miss, if it should be true! ’Twould lift 
a load from us all. But it can’t be — it’s ten years 
gone and if he were alive he would have sent us 
word.” 

“ I want to see, anyhow,” said Alice. 

“ So do I,” said Ryan. “ I’ll try it with you, 
Miss, if Mamselle here will say nothing of it.” 

“ I won’t. I promise,” said Agnes in a low, 
scared voice. 

“ Then how can we manage? ” 

“ If you will let me in to-night, Miss, by the little 
kitchen door, we’ll try it together. I wish we could 
get the key of the secret door, but we’ll have to 
chance it.” 

“ Agnes could get it.” 

“ No, Miss, we mustn’t ask Mamselle here to 
steal from her mother. But maybe I can open it 
myself. I have a bit of skill at picking locks, by 
your leave.” 

“ All right, what time? ” said Alice, her brown 
eyes fairly dancing. 

“ They are all asleep at eleven. I will come at 
half past.” 

“ I hope I can keep awake,” said Alice. 



178 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Then they went back to the house and found 
Madame de Riviere and Mrs. Carter about to 
take an automobile ride. 

That evening Alice was all excitement. She could 
hardly sit still and her mother wondered what could 
be the matter. Agnes was absolutely silent, but her 
dark eyes followed Alice about in half-fearful admi¬ 
ration. At last bedtime came and then the house¬ 
hold settled down to sleep. 

Alice had a dreadful time keeping awake. The 
long ride in the crisp autumn air had made her very 
sleepy. But she managed somehow by sitting up in 
bed and getting up every few minutes to go to the 
window. After her mother came up she was afraid 
to move much for fear of disturbing her. They 
slept in rooms that opened out of each other. 

When everything was quiet, Alice got up and 
slipped on some clothes. Then she crept downstairs 
very softly and into the kitchen hall. She waited at 
the little door until a quiet knock told her that Ryan 
was there. Then she drew back the bolts and let him 
in. He was fully dressed but drew off his shoes as 
he came in. He had a small lantern in his hand. 



CHAPTER XVIII 


ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST-LETTER 

FROM UNCLE HENRI-THE CARTERS RE¬ 

TURN TO TOURS 

Softly they went up to the library which was au 
premier . 

“ I think we might go in before we hear the 
noises,” muttered Ryan. It was easy to see that he 
had not lost faith in the ghost. 

Alice held the lantern while he skillfully picked 
the lock of the carved door. It swung open noise¬ 
lessly and they went into the secret room. It was 
small and narrow, without a window; apparently 
without any other door than the one by which they 
had entered. 

Ryan carefully felt along the walls, holding his 
lantern close so that he might see. 

“ There isn’t a crack for a mouse to get in by —> 
let alone a dog,” he said. “ I think we had best 
go, Miss.” 

Alice, too, felt that she must have been mistaken. 

At that moment there came a long muffled howl 
from somewhere and a noise of running feet. 

“ Mother of Heaven, Miss, it’s the ghost.” 

“ It isn’t, it’s Ogier,” said Alice. She whistled 
and called softly, “Ogier, Ogier-—” 

179 


iSo WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


There was a muffled bark and the scratching be¬ 
gan. 

“You’re right, Miss. But where is he? That’s 
what passes me. The sound seemed to come from 
the outer side of the room. The side that must be 
toward the wall of the chateau.” 

Ryan knocked against the wall and was rewarded 
by a whine and more scratching. 

“ As I’m a sinful man, he must be there, Miss, 
but how did he get there? ” 

“ The way Uncle Henri got out,” said Alice. 

She got down on the floor and felt along the bot¬ 
tom of the wall. She knew somehow that she would 
find an opening. Suddenly her hand seemed to touch 
something. She pressed it, and a stone which had 
seemed part of the outer wall sprang back and 
proved to be a thin section of wall. Instantly the 
cold nose of Ogier was poked through. 

“ You were right, Miss,” said Ryan in great ex¬ 
citement. “ But what next? ” 

He put his hand inside and felt around. Pres¬ 
ently he discovered a spring. He pressed it and 
with creaking and groaning a section of wall slid 
slowly out of place and disclosed a narrow, dark 
passage in the wall. This was filled by the joyous 
Ogier, who wagged his tail energetically. As the 
secret paneling rolled back, a piece of paper, care¬ 
fully folded, fell at their feet. 

Ryan picked it up and his hand trembled. 

“ It’s the master’s hand,” he said brokenly. 
“ Who’s it addressed to, Miss, I can’t see.” 



ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST 181 


“ To Madame de Riviere,” said Alice, after she 
had puzzled over it for a moment. 

“ To-morrow you shall give it to her, Miss. I 
dare not. To-night we must follow Ogier.” 

The dog had turned and had disappeared in the 
dark passage. It was so narrow that Ryan had diffi¬ 
culty in passing. In a moment they came to a long, 
steep flight of steps. They went down, the man 
going first with the lantern. 

Presently the passage widened but became very 
low. They crawled along. It seemed very damp. 

“We are under ground,” said Ryan. Then they 
smelled a faint odor of stables. Now the passage 
was only a hole and they had to squirm through. 
Then all of a sudden some fresh air blew in their 
faces and Ryan’s lantern showed them to be back 
of a pile of old stuff in an unused stall at the very 
furthest end of the stable from where the horses 
were now kept. 

Ogier was standing outside, barking delightedly 
and wagging his tail. 

“ Holy Mother, it must be the way that the mas¬ 
ter went out,” said Ryan. “ Miss, Miss, you’ve done 
a good work this night, I’m thinking. Maybe some 
gladness will come to the Madame’s eyes now, and 
maybe the ghost will no more be heard. But what 
passes my knowledge is why the others did not know 
of the secret way out, and search the passage. And 
now you must go back to bed, Miss. You’re only 
half dressed and not fit to be out in the cold, and 
it’s myself has no shoes,” he added. 



j%2 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


He drew on some boots and wrapping Alice in 
his coat he carried her back to the chateau. “ I’ll 
close the door in the library,” she told him, so he 
did not go up with her, but took his shoes at the 
door and departed. 

She was dreadfully tired, but happy and excited. 
It didn’t seem as if she could wait till morning. She 
went to sleep with the precious note under her pil¬ 
low. 

At breakfast she told her mother everything. 

Mrs. Carter was astonished. She was also much 
disturbed. 

“ My dear child, you should have told before,” 
she said. “ You are not in a storybook. You have 
not acted right by your hostess or by me.” 

“ But, Mother,” said Alice, almost in tears, “ I did 
want to find the ghost. And Ryan was with me. 
O, Mother, I just meant to help. I know Madame 
will not be angry.” Somehow, however, she was not 
so sure. Suppose Madame should be angry. Mrs. 
Carter and Alice went to Madame’s apartments and 
knocked. 

The baroness bade them enter. She was sitting 
in the bay window, dressed in a pretty morning 
gown, and Agnes sat beside her. The girl was cry¬ 
ing softly. 

“ Madame, Alice has a confession to make and a 
story to relate,” said Mrs. Carter. She pretended 
not to notice Agnes’ tears. 

“ I do not believe it is anything very bad,” said 
Madame, smiling. 



ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST 183 


“ Oh, but it is. I mean it’s something fine! ” said 
Alice. 

“ What is it, my dear? Come here and tell me.” 

“ We found a secret way from the ghost room to 
the stable. Ogier found it and we found him and 
Uncle Henri got out that way and he left a note for 
you.” She gave the note to Madame, as she spoke. 

The baroness grew very white and her eyes shone 
like stars. 

“ It is his handwriting,” she said quietly, and 
crossed herself. “ I will read it and then you can tell 
me. 

She read the letter and then burst into tears. 

“ Oh, my dear, my dear, what would I not have 
given to have found this before. Thank Heaven 
you have found it now. It is indeed from the lost 
one — and I believe that he still lives, still lives.” 

u O, Mother,” cried Agnes, and threw her arms 
about her mother’s neck. 

“ You, too, Alice,” cried Madame de Riviere 
joyfully and gathered the two children into one glad 
embrace. 

“ He wrote it the day he disappeared. He begs 
forgiveness for having brought such sorrow to us. 
He says that he is going to America but if we can 
forgive him we must write to him. He gives his 
address. And we never received it! Oh! and he 
must have thought we had cast him off. Oh! can 
we ever find him now? Can we ever find him?” 

“ We can try,” said Mrs. Carter soberly. “ Mr. 
Carter will do all in his power to help you.” 



184 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ But it is the blessed little one who has brought 
us the good news. Tell us, dear, how you found 
it.” 

Alice then told her story. The baroness was aston¬ 
ished at the way she had persevered, but more than 
all was she amazed at the existence of the secret 
passageway. 

“ Why did not my husband know of it and why 
did we not search and find? ” she said over and over 
again. “ I cannot understand.” 

“ The note was tucked under the secret door, so 
that those in the room would not be able to see it; 
only after the wall door was opened.” 

“ He must have thought we knew.” 

“ Maybe he left a message with someone out¬ 
side,” suggested Alice. “ Maybe he told Ogier.” 

“ Ogier knew the way, too, didn’t he? ” said the 
baroness. u My husband often feared there might 
have been a concealed trap in the floor and that 
Henri had somehow fallen to his death. If he only 
could have known. They parted, you know, in 
anger.” 

“ Perhaps Ryan could help you to some knowl¬ 
edge,” suggested Mrs. Carter. 

Madame rang for her maid and sent the girl for 
Ryan. Presently the .old Irishman entered. 

He looked weary as if he had passed a sleepless 
night. 

“ It is good news that this little one has brought 
us, Ryan,” said Madame. And she briefly told him 
what the note had contained. 



ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST 185 


“ Poor Monsieur Henri,” said the old man. 
“ What must he have thought of us all. To cast him 
off that way! But how were we to know? Didn’t 
Monsieur le Baron know, Madame, of the secret 
way? Why did the master only know of it? That’s 
what puzzles me.” 

“ It is what is puzzling us all,” said Mrs. Carter 
gravely. 

“ The dog must have known,” said Ryan, “ for 
I am convinced he’s been through it often, frighten¬ 
ing the life out of all of us. Maybe he trusted to 
the dog to lead us there. * But why was he the only 
one in the house to know the secret way? ” 

“ I fear we may never know,” said Madame. 
“ Unless we can find Monsieur Henri. Ryan, we 
must send word at one to Monsieur le Doux in Paris.” 

“ Indeed yes, Madame. I will take the word, 
Madame, if Madame will give me the telegram.” 

The baroness wrote her telegram and gave it to 
Ryan to take. The old man left at once. Madame 
having been so long silent, now could not speak 
enough of Henri. He had been the younger brother 
of her husband, a handsome, wild young fellow, but 
beloved by everyone. Then came the terrible day 
when he had fought the fatal duel with a neighbor, 
and friend. Henri, in fear of his life and filled with 
horror at his own deed, had fled to the chateau. 
There had been hot words between the brothers. 
Then the gendarmes had arrived and Henri had 
fled to the secret room. He had never been seen 
after. 



186 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ You can imagine our grief,” said Madame, 
“ and horror at the mystery. Oh, if only he is living 
now, what joy there will be.” 

Later in the day as they sat about the fire, Madame 
said: 

“ Do you know, I believe I have solved the mys¬ 
tery of the note. My husband’s father died sud¬ 
denly, very shortly before the fatal duel. I believe 
he must have told Henri of the secret passage and 
then death overtook him before he could tell my 
husband. Henri thought that of course we knew. 
Ah, if we had known! What must he have thought 
of us. Now it may be too late.” 

“ You must be sure and let us know, Madame, if 
you ever hear,” said Mrs. Carter. “ We shall be 
more than interested.” 

The next morning Monsieur le Doux arrived. 

He was a gray-haired, fine-looking man, intellec¬ 
tual and aristocratic. He was amazed at the story 
they had to tell and at once decided that they must 
communicate with the American Consul. So back to 
Paris he went, leaving them all excitement. 

After he had gone Madame ordered that the se¬ 
cret passage be closed, much to the disgust of Alice 
and also of Ogier, who went to the hole in the stable, 
now to be forever filled in, and whined and scratched. 
He also followed Alice about and seemed to regard 
her as quite one of the family. 

Agnes and her guest drove about a good deal in 
the pony cart, with Ryan as an escort. He, as well 



ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST 187 


as the dog, had become quite devoted to “ the little 
Miss.” So the days passed. 

Mr. Carter wrote often. He said that Jack was 
happy at school, that Mademoiselle would soon be 
well again, that the twins were joyous and healthy 
under the charge of Bridget. 

“ They spend half their time at the Luxembourg 
Gardens and the Tuileries; the other half, and by 
far the larger, they pass with Madame de Tonville, 
who has fairly adopted us all. Yesterday she took 
them to the dogs’ cemetery, which delighted them. 
I wish we had taken Alice there. Some of the little 
statues that people have put up to their late faithful 
companions are very quaint and delightful. 

“ The twins are also fascinated by the bath man; 
I don’t think you saw him. He goes from house 
to house with a tub and a little boiler and carries a 
hot bath to your room. He really is an institution in 
a land where bathrooms are so scarce. 

“ It is dreadful to be away from you so long. 
We will surely join you within the week at Tours.” 

Of course, Mrs. Carter wrote her husband of 
Alice’s adventure. Indeed he had already heard it 
from Monsieur le Doux who had consulted him as 
to the best way to find a trace of the missing Mon¬ 
sieur Henri. 

Mr. Carter could give them little encouragement. 
The French Consul in New York must be commu¬ 
nicated with, but after so many years the result was 
more than doubtful. 



188 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


Nevertheless Madame de Riviere refused to give 
up hope. 

“ It cannot be that this letter is a voice from the 
dead,” she would say. “ I am sure that Henri is still 
living.” 

But the rest had little hope. 

“ It will take months, if not years, unless there is 
some lucky hit,” Mr. Carter wrote. “ But these 
continental people always think the United States is 
about the size of Switzerland. They know we are 
from Texas but ask us if we know a Mister John 
Jones who went to Boston last year.” 

“ I do hope they will get some news,” said Mrs. 
Carter. She and Madame de Riviere had come 
very close to each other in these trying days. Ma¬ 
dame clung to her and wanted to talk all the time of 
her hopes and fears. She could not bear to think 
of their departure. But Mr. Carter wrote one day 
that he expected to start from Paris in two days, 
bringing Mademoiselle, Bridget and the twins. 

“ You will find Bridget a great comfort as well 
as a delight. Mademoiselle can now give some time 
to teaching Alice, while you and I can do a little gal¬ 
livanting. Do try and get an apartment.” 

So Mrs. Carter wrote to Madame Joliffe, and they 
packed their trunk with the assistance of nearly every 
one in the chateau, and early one morning the auto¬ 
mobile took them into Tours to meet Mr. Carter 
and his party. 

“ If only Jack were coming, too,” said Mrs. Car¬ 
ter. 



ALICE AND RYAN DISCOVER THE GHOST 189 


They had parted with the greatest affection from 
Madame de Riviere and Agnes. 

“ We are so near that you will often come to us 
as long as you remain in Tours,” said Madame. 
“ We will send the automobile for you. You must 
bring Monsieur Carter and the twins to spend the 
day. I want to know you all.” 

Madame Joliffe was at the hotel and greeted them 
with the delightful news that her friends had de¬ 
cided to go to Paris for November and December 
and would rent to the Carters the apartment for as 
long a time as they desired. It seemed too good to 
be true. 

“ I wish we could settle in it before your father 
comes, but perhaps it is just as well. We will have 
a week at the hotel and look about us and make ar¬ 
rangements and then move in. What fun it will be 
to move into a ready-to-wear French apartment, with 
two servants all at our disposal.” And it was with 
this piece of good news that Mrs. Carter welcomed 
her husband and the twins at the railroad station. 



CHAPTER XIX 


THE FIGHT IN THE AIR — JACK AT SCHOOL — 

“ FOR SERVICE RENDERED ” 

While Alice was having these delightful adven¬ 
tures, Jack was at school in Neuilly. There were a 
number of English and American as well as French 
boys, and after the first homesickness at parting with 
his father, he had a very good time. The masters 
were most of them English and the school was run 
more or less on the English plan. Jack did not see 
much of his father who was very busy. But he him¬ 
self had to keep at work to hold his place among 
the boys, and did not have time to regret anything. 
But from day to day he hoped for some word from 
Monsieur Jean. 

One afternoon, having finished his study for the 
next day, he was running out to join the rest of the 
boys in a game of “ Rugby ” when one of the mas¬ 
ters called to him. 

“ Carter, there is a gentleman here to see you.” 

Jack went to the parlor and there found Monsieur 
Jean who embraced him, greatly to his embarrass¬ 
ment. 

“ Jack, Jack, mon ami, I am so glad, so more than 
glad, to see you. It is a lifetime since we met.” 

“ Monsieur Jean, tell me all about it. I can 
hardly wait to hear.” 


THE FIGHT IN THE AIR 


191 


“ Can we walk — outside — in the court perhaps? 
I would not wish to be overheard,” he added in a 
low voice. 

They went out into the court together and while 
the others played “ Rugby ” Monsieur Jean graph¬ 
ically told his story. 

Jack listened without speaking. 

“ Antoine and I rose instantly after we left you 
and then steered in the direction of the chateau. 
You will remember it was very dark. Then we 
turned on the search light and swept the sky as far 
as we were able. The other aeroplane was not vis¬ 
ible. I felt sure that they had landed somewhere 
for the purpose of taking up the German from whom 
you rescued me. We made a short flight and then 
again used the search light. This time we discov¬ 
ered the Bleriot mounting rapidly. They were head¬ 
ing eastward. Of course we followed and the chase 
began. They, too, used their search light and saw 
us. So it was a question of who would shoot first, 
when we came near enough. 

“ I found that my Antoinette was somewhat more 
rapid and therefore ascended higher than they in 
the air, so as to have the advantage of firing down. 
They also tried to ascend but soon saw that my ma¬ 
chine was the more rapid. We turned our light full 
upon, them as we flew above them. They had no 
guns, only pistols. So we knew that they were at our 
mercy. There were three men, Berkmann, the other 
German and an unknown. I called to them that I 
wished to speak to them — that we had guns and 



192 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


could enforce our commands in the name of the Re¬ 
public. 

“ I do not know whether they heard me, but I saw 
that they were rapidly descending. Then I knew 
myself for a fool. Once on the ground, they would 
have the advantage of numbers. I saw that I must 
fire upon them. But it was somewhat difficult. I 
had to manage the machine and also the search light 
while Antoine held the guns. We could neither of 
us move much. As you know, in an aeroplane it 
is impossible. One thing was certain — the war 
must be finished before they landed. We would 
never be allowed to touch foot to earth alive, should 
they be able to land safely. 

“ ‘ Antoine, you must fire,’ I said. ‘ You must 
hit that machine at the propeller and you must kill 
no one.’ After what seemed an endless time, An¬ 
toine fired. They were now not more than eight 
hundred meters from the ground as I figured it. We 
were at least three hundred meters above them. An¬ 
toine’s first shot succeeded and I saw that they had 
lost control. 

“ The great machine seemed to reel. I bade An¬ 
toine shoot again. 

“ 4 No one must be killed but they must be 
stopped,’ I commanded. 

“ Antoine shot again. I could not tell what had 
occurred for a moment. Then their machine glided 
to the ground, toppling over in a mess of wreckage. 
In three minutes we had landed and with cocked 
pistols were running to the other machine. It 



THE FIGHT IN THE AIR 


i 93 


was black, but Antoine had a flash light — no, 
lantern, with him. There came no sound from the 
other machine. We knew not what was awaiting 
us there. Antoine turned the light of his lantern 
upon the overturned Bleriot. The three men were 
there, caught like rats in a trap, unable to get out. 
We could not tell if they were hurt. 

“ I called to Berkmann that I must have the pa¬ 
pers and the model that he had stolen from my 
atelier. I spoke in English, remembering that he 
spoke it also. 

u ‘ By what right have you fired upon us?’ he 
replied. 

“ ‘ I will fire again if you do not give what you 
stole,’ I answered, ‘ and this time it will not be your 
machine that I hit.’ 

“ ‘ I have nothing,’ he said. 

“ 4 Then I will shoot,’ I answered. 

“ ‘ We can shoot also,’ he said. 

“ ‘ Then why don’t you? ’ I asked. ‘ Your game 
is done, Berkmann. Give me my things.’ 

“ ‘ Come and take them,’ he taunted. 

“ I would have given a fortune to have had more 
light. 

“ ‘ Antoine,’ I said, 4 go back and turn on the big 
light.’ 

“ The next moment the dazzling light shone on 
the wrecked biplane. 

“ The men were caught, I soon saw, beyond hope 
of escape. But they still held their pistols. 

“ ‘ Berkmann,’ I said, ‘ we have our guns. We 



194 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


can shoot you at a safe distance. Why will you sac¬ 
rifice these lives ? Give me my papers.’ 

“ ‘ Come and take them,’ he repeated. 

“ I bade Antoine turn off the light. I was still 
wondering why they did not shoot. We were now 
in absolute darkness. 

“ Antoine and I crawled along the ground in the 
direction of our enemies. Berkmann was the near¬ 
est. He lay caught beneath the wings. Jack, I 
knew then what fear was. It seemed to me that the 
next instant I might be shot. 

“ We crawled very near and then made a rush 
toward where we knew Berkmann lay. When we 
took hold of him he was limp. He had fainted. 
O, Jack, he is brave, a hero. He had been hurt, oh, 
badly hurt, and he was still brave. It was the same 
with the others. 

“We managed somehow to rescue them from 
their painful position. It was with a feeling of shame 
that I searched Berkmann and found what I had come 
for. And now, what were we to do? We could not 
leave them in this way. We examined them and 
found that the unknown had apparently only been 
stunned. Berkmann was badly hurt, we feared. 
About the other German we were not sure. 

“ We did not know where we were. The search 
light showed a field and beyond it woods. Then we 
heard voices. Ciel, but we were glad. It seems we 
were not far from a village. People in a house at 
the outside had seen the strange lights fall as it were 
from the sky — had heard a crash, and had come to 



THE FIGHT IN THE AIR 


195 


see what had occurred. We explained to them that 
we had been making a test of flying by night. I 
told them that we were of the army. That we had 
witnessed the falling of the other machine and had 
descended to render assistance. With the aid of 
these men the three unfortunates were carried to 
the village and a doctor was called. We left them 
and returned to Orleans, after getting our directions 
from the villagers.” 

“ O, Monsieur Jean, if I had only been there, 
too. It was the hardest thing I ever did, to go 
back.” 

“ I know, I know, my boy. But it was not pos¬ 
sible. You are only a boy, mon ami, though a brave 
one. What would Monsieur, your father, have 
said?” 

“ He said ‘ if only I had been a man,’ ” said Jack. 

Monsieur Jean laughed. 

“Your father, he is splendid!” he said. “No 
wonder you are a young hero, being the son of such 
a father.” 

“Have you seen Herr Berkmann since?” 

“ Alphonse accompanied him to the frontier yes¬ 
terday. He is not to return to France. The un¬ 
known man and the other German have been ar¬ 
rested, for they were men in the service of the 
government. It may be that you will be asked to 
identify your two friends of the hotel. But, Jack, 
mon amiy I am vindicated, and I have my model. 
The plans they may have copies of, but that I am sure 
they cannot have mastered. It will make a revoke 



196 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


tion in the art of flying. One can go slow, slow, 
poise in the air, like the great bird — and I have 
saved the secret for France.” 

Jack drew a deep breath. 

“ But you, mon gars, you saved my life. I cannot 
say, it is yours,— because it is to my country. But 
after my country, I live for you. I do not like to 
think that some day you will leave me here and re¬ 
turn to your country. Enfin f it is not for some time. 
In the meanwhile, we must see much of each other. 
You are at school, I am in the army, but somehow 
we will manage it.” 

“ Can’t you take me out again in your Antoi¬ 
nette?” asked Jack. “I would give anything to 
go-” 

“ If your father permits, mon ami . Perhaps you 
will both go, heinf ” 

“ At night, Monsieur Jean? ” 

“ No, no, Jack, not now. Some day when it is 
more safe. Now I would not be willing.” 

“ Well, in the daytime, then. I suppose it’s kind 
of nervy to ask you.” 

“ Anything that you ask, Jack, I will do if I can.” 

They chatted for a while longer and then Mon¬ 
sieur Jean had to leave. But Jack’s importance 
in the school rose at once. Even Roger, his senior, 
who had thought it necessary to be a trifle superior 
as an “ old boy,” even some of the masters, were 
anxious to learn the history of his acquaintance 
with Jean Noir, one of the foremost French avi¬ 
ators. 



THE FIGHT IN THE AIR 


197 


Several days after this Jack received permission 
to go with Monsieur Jean to the house of his com¬ 
mandant. The principal of the school could not well 
refuse a request from headquarters, Jack’s father 
having been notified and having also given consent. 
Jack was all excitement, and half afraid. 

The French commander, a gray-haired gentleman, 
with bristling mustaches, received them very kindly. 
In a few moments three men entered, one a French 
soldier and the others Jack recognized as the two 
men he had seen in the court of the Hotel des Saints 
Peres. Jack did not hesitate to identify them. Then 
he was asked to identify the paper which he now 
saw for the third time. His statements were clear 
and unhesitating. Monsieur Jean was delighted. 
After the two prisoners were removed, the comman¬ 
dant gravely thanked him and shook his hand. 

“ My boy,” he said in French, but speaking so 
slowly and impressively that Jack understood every 
word, “ My boy, your country should be proud of 
such a son. Some day I know she will be. Mon¬ 
sieur has told me of the service you have rendered 
to him as well as to France. We cannot show our 
recognition publicly. For this affair must remain 
secret forever. I will thank you in the name of the 
army, and I will present to you the pistol which you 
so bravely used.” 

The pistol, shining as if new, was lying on the 
table. He handed it to the delighted boy, bowing 
formally as he did so. On the polished metal the 
words were engraved, “ Jack Carter for service ren- 



198 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


dered.” And then came the date. Monsieur Jean 
shook his hand. 

“ Monsieur, thank you. It’s — it’s perfectly bul¬ 
ly,” said Jack, who was almost unable to voice his 
sentiments. 

Then they departed and Jack returned to his 
school with the precious pistol in his pocket. Pie 
hated to think that he must not show it to the boys. 
He would have to wait till he got back to Texas. He 
could show it to his father, though, and could hardly 
wait until that gentleman appeared on the day fol¬ 
lowing. He had come to say good-by before going 
to join Mrs. Carter and Alice, and he brought along 
the twins. They were delighted with the school. 
Jack showed them his bed in the dormitory and his 
desk in the hall. He took them to the chapel, and 
showed them the recreation field. He found an op¬ 
portunity also to show his pistol while the twins were 
occupied in throwing the pillows from his bed at 
each other. Mr. Carter looked at it long and seri¬ 
ously. 

“ It is a fine thing to have, Jack, and I’m proud 
of you. It is a fine thing to render a service to a 
nation. You have been lucky to be able to do it. 
Don’t lose that pistol, Jack. Some day a boy of 
yours may be mighty glad to have it.” 

“Have what, Father?” called Bob. 

“ Sharp eyes and ears, Bob,” said Mr. Carter. 
“ If you hadn’t been buried in pillows you would have 
seen and heard something which now you never, 
never will! ” 



THE FIGHT IN THE AIR 


199 


“ Oh, Daddy,” said Katherine, running over and 
putting her hand in his, “ won’t you tell me f ” 

“ Goosey, we were talking about some of Jack’s 
doings here. Nothing to interest you. Come, kid¬ 
dies, it’s time to say good-by.” 

Jack hated to see his father go. Even the pistol 
hidden in the depths of his garments did not con¬ 
sole him. This was harder than rescuing Monsieur 
Jean. 

“ It will not be long, my boy. We will all be to¬ 
gether again in two months. Maybe I will have to 
run up to Paris now and then on business. And the 
De Tonvilles are here and your beloved Monsieur 
Jean.” 

Nevertheless the parting was a hard one. 

“ My, but I’m glad I’m not going to school,” said 
Bob. 

“ Good-by, Jack. We’re going to ride on top of 
a bus and maybe have ice cream for supper.” 

So they went and Jack tried to forget his home¬ 
sickness playing ball with the boys. 



CHAPTER XX 


LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN-THE 

JOURNEY SOUTH 

The twins were delighted with Tours. They liked 
to play in the Joliffes’ garden; they liked to walk 
along the road beside the river; but above all did 
they enjoy those days when Madame de Riviere’s 
automobile came for them and they were whisked 
away to the chateau to run at their pleasure in the 
fields about the farm. 

The Carters being settled safely in the apartment, 
Mademoiselle felt quite capable of taking charge of 
the children, with Bridget to help her and the two 
French servants. So Mr. and Mrs. Carter fre¬ 
quently went off for the day, and sometimes Mr. 
Carter went away for a few days on business. Alice 
studied most of the morning with Mademoiselle. 
She missed having someone of her own age to play 
with, for she only saw Agnes occasionally. 

It seemed strange to settle down just as if they 
were at home; to study and take walks, to run into 
the pantry to the cookey jar and find funny French 
gateaux! 

The twins were never tired of talking about Louis 
and Leon Roulet, and Mers. Curiously enough 
they found it difficult to speak English to their mother 


200 


LOCHES 


UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


201 


at first. They chatted in French to each other and 
even to Alice. Poor Bridget had to guess at what 
they said for they did not feel it necessary to take 
as much pains in talking to her as they did when 
speaking to their mother. Bob offered to teach 
Bridget French but she only laughed at him. 

“ Dear me, Master Bob, how you do talk. You 
had best talk English or you’ll be forgetting it. 
Then what will you do when you get back to your 
own country? They’ll 11 all think you’re a little 
Frenchy.” 

44 1 rather guess not! I’d knock any fellow down 
who said that,” replied the valiant Bob. 

44 I wonder if they will ever hear from Uncle 
Henri,” said Alice to her mother one day. 

44 They could not hear as soon as this. Why, it’s 
only a little over a fortnight since we were there.” 

44 1 wish they would hear before we go.” 

44 1 am afraid they may never hear,” answered 
her mother gravely. 

“What is it you are afraid of?” 

Mr. Carter walked into the room. He had been 
in Paris for two days. Alice ran to kiss him. 

“Were you talking about the de Rivieres? ” 

“Yes, dear, when did you get in?” 

“Just this minute. I heard the strangest thing 
last night at a dinner. I was dining with some 
French and American engineers and the talk turned 
on ghosts, after the business of the evening was 
over. I told about Alice’s adventure. When I had 
finished a Western chap from California asked me 



202 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


what sort of a looking fellow this Monsieur de 
Riviere was. I could not tell him. He said: 

“ ‘ I met a fellow out in Colorado three or four 
years ago, French, and awfully good sort. He and 
I got sort of chummy on the ranch where we’d both 
turned up. I was loafing and he was working. He 
was a most fastidious chap, wouldn’t run with the 
cowboys; they called him ‘Monseigneur.’ I asked 
him how on earth he’d landed there and he told me 
that he had fought a duel and had been cast off by 
his family. He had given them his address, he said, 
but they had never sent him any word for nearly ten 
years. I think he said he came from near Tours.’ I 
asked what his name was. The man couldn’t tell 
me but thought he had heard somebody call him 
Henry.” 

“ Oh, Daddy, it must be Uncle Henri,” cried 
Alice. 

“ I suppose it might be. I hate to say anything 
for fear of raising their hopes. I think I’ll tell Mon¬ 
sieur le Doux and he can communicate with the 
French consul in San Francisco.” 

“ Daddy, it must be he.” 

“ But that was several years ago, Robert. He 
may not be there.” 

“True; they will have to take their chances on 
that. I’ll look up Monsieur to-morrow morning. 
Then how would you like to go to Loches in the 
afternoon and spend the night, Kate?” 

“ How would it be to take Alice and Agnes de 
Riviere? ” suggested Mrs. Carter. “ I think Loches 




4 4 


He 2;oes from house to house with a tub ” 






































































LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


20J 


would interest them with its dungeons and prisons. 
It has so much history, too.” 

“ All right, suppose we do. I can get her to-mor¬ 
row when I go out to see Monsieur le Doux. But 
not a word of the man who may be Uncle Henri, 
do you hear, Alice? ” 

“ Surely, Daddy. Oh, but it will be fun to have 
Agnes go! ” 

The next morning Mr. Carter drove out to the 
chateau. After he had talked to Monsieur, he sug¬ 
gested their plan to Madame de Riviere. She 
was delighted, and called to Agnes to tell her of the 
fun in store for her. 

So that afternoon four happy people set out from 
Tours, and Mr. Carter mailed a letter from Mon¬ 
sieur le Doux to the French consul in San Francisco. 

The town of Loches covered a small hill, the top 
of which was capped by the stone towers of the cas¬ 
tle. 

“ It looks something like Mt. Saint Michel,” sug¬ 
gested Alice. 

They took a voiture from the station, left their 
bags at the hotel and drove up to the top of the hill 
to the castle. 

After a short period of silence Alice said: 

44 There’s always an old part to these towns and 
then there’s a little bit of very new part with a square 
and a Hotel de Ville in it. What on earth is a Hotel 
de Ville, and why don’t we ever stay at it? ” 

“Why, Alice,” said Mr. Carter, “you little 
goosey, the Hotel de Ville is the city hall, the mu- 



204 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


nicipal building. Of course it is the new part of 
the cities. In France large private houses are 
often called ‘ Hotel ’ and so are the public buildings. 
Don’t you remember the ‘ Hotels ’ in Paris that were 
anything but hotels in our sense of the word ? ” 

“ That’s true. I never thought of that. O, 
Daddy, what a queer old church with all those funny 
animals.” 

They had arrived at the old Collegiate Church. 

“In ii 80 began the church as it now stands, all 
broken into points and angles, with not so much as 
the line of the roof horizontal,” read Mr. Carter 
from the book which he was carrying, “ Old Tou- 
raine.” 

The church was very white, being built entirely of 
white stone, and had two beautiful pointed steeples. 
Over the main door were carved curious animals and 
creatures half human. The interior was simple and 
very impressive. The old sacristan who showed them 
about, led them down into a subterranean chapel 
which had formerly, he said, had a secret communi¬ 
cation with the castle. 

“ Like the one in your chateau,” said Alice, turn¬ 
ing to Agnes. 

“ Can’t you imagine that pious old fiend, Louis 
XI, coming here to pray for the souls of the fellows 
he had murdered in the dungeons?” said Mr. 
Carter. At which horrid suggestion, they all shud¬ 
dered. 

They visited the Eastern, the old part of the 
castle next, and were taken to the dungeons and 



LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


205 


prisons far, far below the earth, where the sun never 
shone, and the poor unfortunate who had been left 
to languish had been in a pitiable plight indeed. 

They saw the place where the cage had hung in 
which the miserable Cardinal Balue had been im¬ 
prisoned. Too short for him to lie down, too low 
for him to stand, he was exhibited there for his 
cruel master to taunt. 

“ Let’s go up — I hate these places,” said Mrs. 
Carter. “ Thank Heaven we live now-a-days.” 

The newer part of the castle was very delightful 
with its beautiful chapel in which is the tomb of Ag¬ 
nes Sorel. She lies with two lambs at her feet, her 
face charming in the white marble. 

“ You know Agnes means lamb,” said Agnes. 
“ And are not these lovely? Perhaps when I die I 
may have some lambs upon my tomb.” 

“ Child, don’t talk about it,” said Mrs. Carter, 
with a shudder. 

The chapel was in a fine gray tower and next to 
this the part of the chateau built by Charles VII 
and then that of Louis XII. 

“ See, Alice, this part, called the facade, is like 
part of the chateau at Blois. It must have been 
byuilt at about the same period. They had fashions 
m architecture even then.” 

They went up the stairs to the little oratory of 
Anne of Brittany. 

“ Your old friend of Langeais and the mother 
of the marble children in Tours, Alice,” said Mrs. 
Carter. It was a tiny little place, all beautifully 



2o6 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


carved with her emblems, the dainty, dog-like ermine 
and the twisted cord. 

u It wouldn’t be a bad place to say one’s prayers 
in, even for a queen,” said Mr. Carter. “ How do 
you like Loches, Agnes ? ” 

“ I think this part is beautiful. But the dungeons 
are too cruel.” 

“ I think so, too. Well, children, it’s getting late. 
We must be going back to the hotel.” 

The next morning they wandered about the curi¬ 
ous old town. It happened to be market day and all 
the peasants from neighboring hamlet and farm 
drove in on their high carts. They brought geese 
and hens and goats, cheese and milk and butter, 
vegetables and all sorts of farm produce to sell. 
Men and women were dressed in blue and the women 
had white caps. The harness of the horses was dec¬ 
orated with brass and often with jingling metal 
ornaments which gave a festive sound as well as a 
gay appearance. 

“ These French markets are like the one in New 
Orleans,” remarked Mr. Carter, “ which is quite 
natural, as that was settled by French people.” 

“ O, Mother, see those pretty brown pitchers 
with the cheese in them. Couldn’t I buy one?” 
said Alice suddenly. 

“ Why, surely. Ask how much they cost.” 

They proved to be “ un sou.” 

“ How much is that? ” whispered Alice. “ Have 
I as much money left? ” 

“ That is the old name for a centime — which is 



LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


*07 


one fifth of a cent,” replied Mr. Carter gravely. “ I 
think the united family might manage it.” 

So the little brown earthenware pitcher with its 
cover was purchased and Alice was delighted at the 
bargain. Mrs. Carter bought another for Agnes; 
and then they proceeded slowly, down the narrow, 
quaint old streets to the station. 

“ I wish Agnes could always be with us,” said 
Alice. “ It has been so much more fun to have her 
along.” 

“ Indeed it has,” said Mr. Carter heartily. 

44 Oh, you are so good,” Agnes cried. 44 I have 
been so happy.” 

“We must manage to do it again,” Mrs. Carter 
said. 44 It’s a great pleasure to us all.” 

44 I wish we could be always together. I wish 
you were to be here at the Christmas festival,” said 
Agnes. 44 Then you could come to us for the fete. 
How I hate to think of you in a hotel. We could 
make you so happy at the chateau.” 

44 Oh, well, Christmas is a whole month away. 
Who knows what may happen,” laughed Mr. Carter. 
44 But it is nice of you to think of it, little girl.” 

Agnes put her small hand in Mr. Carter’s. 

44 You are big like my father,” she said. “ And 
you like little girls as he did, don’t you? My Uncle 
Raoul, he does not like children.” 

“What are you thinking about, Alice?” asked 
her mother. There had been a few moments of 
silence, as they all sat in the train and watched the 
country slowly roll away from them. 



208 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Nothing; just Christmas last year,” answered 
Alice soberly. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter exchanged glances. 

“ Don’t think about it now. It’s a long time till 
Christmas.” 

“ I’ll try not to.” 

“ Just remember that we’ll all be together — Jack 
and all of us. That in itself will make a fete of it.” 

When they reached the apartment they found a 
letter from Jack, most enthusiastic about his school 
and the fun he was having. He had been to supper 
with the de Tonvilles; he had been to Rheims with 
Monsieur Jean and had taken another turn in an 
aeroplane. He was on the second lower school 
“ Rugby ” team, and only wished he were going to 
have a big piece of mince pie on Thanksgiving Day. 

“ Two or three of us American boys are going to 
have a feed that evening. Of course these heathens 
don’t have a holiday, but we are going to celebrate. 
Won’t you send us a cake or something? ” 

“ Bless the boy, of course we will,” said Mr. Car¬ 
ter at this point. “ We’ll send them a regular spread. 
Let’s see, when is it? ” 

“ Thursday week,” answered Mrs. Carter 
promptly. “ We ought to send them turkey and cran¬ 
berry sauce, but I suppose cakes and pies will have 
to do.” 

“ I don’t believe they will make any criticism,” 
laughed Mr. Carter. “What’s this letter, Kate? 
It’s postmarked Nimes, in Provence. Who do you 
know there? ” 



LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


209 


“ No one,” answered Mrs. Carter, and opened 
the envelope. 

“ It is from someone named Noir. Why it must 
be some relative of Monsieur Jean,” said Mr. Car¬ 
ter, looking over her shoulder. 

“ It is from Madame Noir. O, Robert, it is an 
invitation to us all for Christmas. She asks us to 
spend Christmas at the chateau in Provence. She 
wants to meet Jack, ‘ who saved her boy’s life,’ and 
she wants to meet us all. They want us to see what 
Christmas is in Provence.” 

“ They certainly are bricks,” cried Alice. “ O, 
Mother, we must go.” 

“ Hurrah, hurrah I ” cried the twins. “ What is 
a Christmas in Provence? ” 

“ I don’t see how we could all go to one house,” 
said Mrs. Carter. “ They are certainly kind 
and hospitable to ask us, but there are so many of 
us.” 

“ Come, Kate, I think we had better accept. They 
do owe us one on Monsieur Jean’s account. Let 
them have a chance to do something for us. Just 
think of a real Christmas instead of a make-shift at 
a hotel. I vote we accept.” 

“ O, Daddy, of course we must,” chorused Alice 
and the twins. 

“ They do seem to want us,” added Mrs. Carter, 
with a doubtful tone in her voice. 

“ Of course they want us,” came from Bob. 
“ Why shouldn’t they? Aren’t we about the nicest 
ever?” 



2io WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ We can think it over, anyway,” remarked Mrs. 
Carter. 

Alice ran over and threw her arms round her 
mother’s neck. “ O, Mother, we just must. Just 
think how Jack will feel. He will be so happy. 
Mother, we must.” 

“ I think so, too, Alice. It’s too good to be lost,” 
remarked Mr. Carter. 

The matter was dropped for the time, but Alice 
sang as she danced away to get ready for lunch. 
She had no doubt in her own mind. They were 
going to have a real “ homey Christmas ” after all 
instead of a gloomy one in some hotel. 

Early in December the apartment had to be given 
up and the southward trip began. 

The parting with the de Rivieres was a sad one, 
for they had become sincerely attached to each other. 
Nothing had been heard as yet concerning “ Uncle 
Henri,” but Madame and Agnes both promised to 
send word the moment that any news should come 
to them. 

“ Whether it be good or bad lies in God’s hands 
— but you shall know it almost as soon as we do,” 
Madame assured them. 

Traveling with whole family, including Mademoi¬ 
selle and Bridget, who had become indispensable, 
was not the simplest thing imaginable. They spent 
some time in La Rochelle, the cleanest and tidiest 
of cities with its numberless little arcades and its 
ramparts overlooking the sea. 



LOCHES — UNCLE HENRI AGAIN 


211 


“ And thou Rochelle, our own Rochelle, 
proud City of the Waters,” 

quoted Mr. Carter, 

“ 4 Again let rapture light the eyes of all thy 
mourning daughters.* 

I don’t see many mourning daughters now. It 
certainly doesn’t appear like a town that has been 
besieged. Look at those peaceful Breton fisherfolk 
and the little toy boats in the harbor. And as for 
all this whitewash, that never went through a siege.” 

44 It looks like those towns in Holland,” said Alice. 
44 It’s so clean and neat. I like it better than the 
dirty old places.” 

44 Those chaps who had to emigrate must have 
been sorry,” remarked Mr. Carter. 44 You know, 
Alice, that a great many Huguenots fled from here 
to America in the old days of persecution.” 

44 Weren’t the Catholics ever persecuted?” asked 
Alice. 

44 Surely — during Cromwell’s time in England — 
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, too,— and remem¬ 
ber that it is only recently that the Catholics have 
been allowed to sit in the English Parliament.” 

44 Our New England ancestors were pretty hard 
on them, too,” said Mrs. Carter. 44 It does seem 
strange why religion should make people so bitter.” 

44 Not religion, Kate, but religious convictions. 
It’s quite a different matter. But I do feel sorry 



2 i2 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


for the poor chaps who had to leave this town. I 
agree with Alice. It’s fine.” 

From Rochelle they went to Bordeaux, which they 
found to be a prosperous modern city, with fine 
streets and boulevards, and large houses. The chil¬ 
dren were never tired of wandering along the quats, 
with Mademoiselle and Bridget. They watched the 
ships come in and go out, they watched the lading 
and unlading, they watched the strange-looking sail¬ 
ors and imagined themselves sailing away to unknown 
lands. 

So the time passed. Mr. Carter was away a great 
deal. Their time in France was almost over and he 
wished to make the most of it in a business way. 
Jack was to join them at Christmas, and was to come 
down from Paris with Monsieur Jean. 



CHAPTER XXI 


PROVENCE-MONSIEUR JEAN’S FAMILY — 

PONT AU GARD 

Two weeks before Christmas the Carters arrived 
at the Chateau Noir. 

Mrs. Carter had made some objections to going 
so long before the feast day but the General had 
insisted. 

“ We begin our festivities at least ten days be¬ 
fore,” he said, “ and you must become acquainted 
with our young people and our customs. Then, too, 
you will wish to go to Nimes and Pont au Card and 
can do this so much more comfortably from the cha¬ 
teau.” Indeed the hospitable gentleman would take 
no refusal. 

On a wonderful December day they drove from 
Nimes up to the home of Monsieur Jean — situated 
on the side of a hill, and commanding a beautiful 
view of the valley of the Rhone. The chateau was 
a very ancient one, built of gray stone, with a massive 
tower. In the rear were the low-lying farm build¬ 
ings and further up the hill were gardens and an 
olive orchard. The soft gray-green of the olive 
trees was beautiful against the deep blue of the sky. 
The General and Madame Noir met them at the 
door and brought them into the hall where gouter 
awaited them; also Monsieur Jean’s older sister and 

213 


214 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


her two children, about the age of the twins. Two 
great fireplaces were on either side of the hall and 
the piled up wood showed that one must be prepared 
for cold weather even in sunny Provence. 

The twins were delighted to find the two French 
children and at once began to talk to them in a 
steady stream of excellent French. Bridget went to 
their rooms to unpack some of the valises. Some¬ 
how she managed to feel at home in these old French 
chateaux, perhaps because some ancestor had been 
one of the loyal Irish gentlemen who served the 
French kings. 

Madame Noir drew Alice to her, and asked her 
many questions in her charming Provencal French, 
most of which the girl could not understand. She 
wanted to know all about Jack, the boy who had 
saved her son’s life. 

Mrs. Carter sat down beside Madame Rene, 
Monsieur Jean’s sister who dispensed the tea and 
cakes. Mr. Carter and the General at once became 
absorbed in the problems of construction involved 
in the building of the Roman Amphitheater in 
Nimes. 

That night the twins could hardly sleep for ex¬ 
citement. Their heads were full of the Christmas 
plans which Eduard and Olivier had been telling. 
The bringing in of the Yule log, which was to take 
place the next day, the building of the Craiche, 
on the three days preceding Christmas, the Christ¬ 
mas eve supper and ceremonies — the singing of 
carols, Noels; it was all wonderful and thrilling. 



PROVENCE — MONSIEUR JEAN’S FAMILY 215 


Breakfast was brought to their rooms the next 
morning. 

Almost before they were through, there came a 
knocking on the door, and the two rosy-faced, dark¬ 
haired French boys bade them make haste. “ We 
are about to start,” they cried. 

The twins almost tipped over the table in their 
haste. 

“ Bridget, Bridget — do hurry. Where are those 
hats — we don’t need gloves.” 

Bridget buttoned their coats and insisted on wash¬ 
ing the honey from their faces, much to their disgust. 

Alice was ready and Mr. and Mrs. Carter joined 
them. Mademoiselle deckled that the long walk 
up the hill was not for her and stayed at home to 
unpack, somewhat disgusted at Bridget, who with 
her apron thrown over her head and a coat hastily 
pulled on, insisted on going with the children. Out¬ 
side in the court the General and Madame Noir 
were waiting, with Madame Rene and all the 
servants of the chateau and all the farm hands. It 
was indeed a march of ceremony. 

Two by two they ascended the hill until they came 
to the gnarled old olive tree that was to be cut down 
for the Yule log. 

“ It is a very ancient custom,” Madame now ex¬ 
plained to Mr. Carter. “ In the poorer families they 
content themselves with branches but every Proven¬ 
cal household must have its Yule log. It is lighted 
on Christmas Eve and fortunate are those in whose 
home it burns until New Year’s day.” 



216 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


The General, according to ancient usage, struck 
the first blow with an ax which the superintendent 
of the farm carried. 

“ If Jean or Rene were here, one of them would 
complete the good work,” said Madame Noir. “ As 
it is, Alexandre will do so for the General.” 

So the sturdy superintendent took the ax and his 
blows rang through the still air. Then with a crash 
the tree fell, an enormous log was cut from it and 
the General with three of the men to help bore it 
triumphantly, almost reverently down the hill to the 
chateau where it was carefully placed in the court¬ 
yard. 

“ You must be sure not to sit on it,” warned 
Eduard gravely. “ If you do, you will be ill and 
not be able to eat the Christmas dinner.” 

Bob and Kate, who had had no desire to sit on 
it, were now seized with a longing to do so. They 
whispered together. “ Or you may be covered with 
boils,” said Olivier. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter laughed but Madame Noir 
said, 

“ Really, children, I would not advise it.” 

“ Do you believe that? ” asked Mr. Carter won- 
deringly. 

“ I don’t know,” answered Madame Noir. “ Of 
course it is not true, but do not, I beg of you, try it.” 

The next few days were spent most happily. The 
four younger children were always into some mis¬ 
chief or other, but as they spent most of the time 
at the farm, they did little harm except to the nerves 



PROVENCE-MONSIEUR JEAN’S FAMILY. 21 7 


of the geese and pigs and hens. From day to day 
the short excursion to Nimes and Pont au Gard was 
put off. 

The General and Madame Noir were so delight¬ 
ful in their hospitality! But as Christmas day drew 
near Madame and her daughter were less and less 
in evidence. They were busy in the kitchen, making 
the Christmas sweets; nougats, doughnuts, cakes, 
candies and other goodies. 

Three days before Christmas Olivier and Eduard 
invited their two young guests to help them make the 
Craiche. Some of the farm children assisted, too. 
They all went out together and brought sticks and 
stones, moss, and branches and in one corner of the 
great hall the building began. It was nothing less 
than to make a stable, a cradle, and, as well as they 
could, represent the whole scene of the holy family 
at Bethlehem — the Virgin and Joseph, the little 
Lord Christ whose birthday the whole world cele¬ 
brates, the shepherds, and the animals who were in 
the stable. The toy figures and animals had been 
bought at a special fair which is held annually for 
that purpose in the towns of Provence. Bob and 
Katherine were delighted. They were not as skillful 
as the two French children, who had had several 
years of practice. Nevertheless everyone declared 
that never before had the Craiche been so beau¬ 
tiful. 

While the younger children thus busied themselves, 
the General and Mr. and Mrs. Carter and Alice 
drove to Nimes. 



218 when MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ It is a very old city, Alice,” said the General — 
“ older than anything you will see until you go to 
Italy and view the Roman Forum and the ruins and 
temples of the old Roman Empire.” They were 
standing in front of the great amphitheater. 

“ It looks like the picture at home,” said Alice. 

“ The picture is of the colosseum at Rome, I 
think,— but this is like it, only in even better preser¬ 
vation. They had bull fights and all sorts of blood¬ 
thirsty shows here in the old Roman days.” 

“ But this is France, Daddy. Why were the old 
Romans here ? ” 

“ The Romans were in France, too, Alice — es¬ 
pecially in Southern France. Haven’t you read 
Caesar? Don’t you know that this is Gaul, which in 
my young days used to be 4 quartered in three 
halves ’ ? ” 

“Mercy — is this Gaul? ’Scuse me, Mother, I 
didn’t mean to say mercy — but it’s so queer. Ev¬ 
erything has a different name.” 

The white streets of the little town seemed half 
asleep. There were a few women about, in their 
charming Provencal caps, ornamented with bows—? 
but hardly any men. 

“ On Sundays and feast days it is different — so 
gay, so crowded,” said Madame Noir. “ On week 
days my countrymen must either sleep or work else¬ 
where.” 

“ Perhaps they are looking for Yule logs,” sug¬ 
gested Mr. Carter. 

“ Those are all in the houses by now.” 



PROVENCE — MONSIEUR JEAN’S FAMILY 219 


“ Where are the poorer quarters ? ” asked Mrs. 
Carter. “ These houses all look so well kept and 
well to do.” 

“ I believe there are very few poor in Provence,” 
answered the General. “ The land is good to us and 
our people are thrifty.” 

Then they left the town behind them and drove 
out into the country, with its almond and olive trees, 
its farms and gardens, to the wonderful Roman 
bridge. There in the midst of loneliness it stood, 
spanning a ravine and the river at the bottom; three 
arches, and on top the acqueduct which formerly 
brought water to the town. Not a stone seemed to 
have been injured by the centuries in which it had 
stood. 

“ What a remarkable people, Monsieur,” said the 
General, as he and Mr. Carter stood looking up at 
the towering structure. 

u Think of the labor of putting those great blocks 
together here in the wilderness with no modern en¬ 
gineering tools to help them,” said Mr. Carter. 

“ They were great while they were simple,” said 
the General gravely. “ One must stay simple, like a 
child, is it not so, Monsieur, in order to conquer time, 
in order to live forever? ” 

They drove back through the twilight, the rocks 
shining white on the slopes beside the straight white 
road over which they traveled. 

Christmas Eve came at last. Bob and Kate were 
anxiously asking where the stockings were to be hung 
— where the Christmas tree was to stand. 



•220 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ You will have to wait until we get back to Texas 
next year for that, Bob,” answered Mrs. Carter. 
“ In France the Christ child brings the gifts, and the 
Craiche takes the place of our Christmas tree.” 

This was somewhat of a disappointment, but the 
children as well as everyone else enjoyed the won¬ 
derful, etherialized doughnuts which appeared with 
breakfast. 

“ They are a specialty of my daughter’s,” Ma¬ 
dame had announced proudly. “ Every Provengal 
family bakes doughnuts on Christmas Eve.” 

And with the doughnuts came loud cries of joy, 
the barking of dogs and the sound of carriage wheels, 
all to announce the arrival of Monsieur Rene and 
Monsieur Jean, and Jack. Then indeed did the old 
chateau ring with laughter — for the two young men 
were all joy to be at home once more in their beloved 
Provence, and the Carters were jubilant to be united 
again. 

“ Christmas here seems a mixture of Christmas 
and our New England Thanksgiving,” said Mrs. 
Carter. She hated to have Jack out of her sight 
even for a moment. But she had to share him with 
Madame Noir. In fact all the Noir family per¬ 
sisted in treating him as a hero, much to his secret 
pride. It did trouble him though to be embraced 
frequently by Madame. And he much preferred 
running after Monsieur Jean, when that gentleman 
explored his old haunts about the farm, to talking 
with the General and Madame. 



CHAPTER XXII 


CHRISTMAS IN PROVENCE-A LETTER FROM THE 

BARONESS-AU REVOIR 

The event of Christmas Eve was the great supper 
at six o’clock, when the Yule log was lighted. The 
table was spread with all sorts of delicacies — the 
huge Christmas loaf of bread signed with a cross and 
decorated with a sprig of holly — fish and cakes and 
all sorts of good things, but no meat,— for the Pro- 
venceaux are good Catholics and the day before a 
feast day is a fast day. 

Everyone was present, all the servants and work¬ 
men on the estate — their wives and children. The 
ceremonies began with the lighting of the candles 
at the Craiche, and such a scramble as it was! 
For the children had a rivalry as to who would light 
the first one. Everyone was laughing and happy. 
Then four of the men went out and brought in the 
Yule log. This was done with much solemnity and 
the Yule log song was sung. Finally the youngest 
present, little Frangois, son of the superintendent, 
asked the blessing in his Provengal patois and every¬ 
one sat down. The children were together and Mon¬ 
sieur Jean sat next to Jack. 

A tall candle burnt at each end of the long table, 
which was set up in the great hall, and Monsieur 
Jean informed Jack gravely that if one of those 


222 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


burnt out before the end of dinner and the wick fell 
toward any person present, that person would die 
within the year. 

“ What are those two plates with grass in them, 
Mother? ” whispered Alice. For beside the candles 
were two plates in which was water and growing 
grain. 

“ That is St. Barbara’s grain,” said Eduard, who 
had heard the question. “ It is planted on St. Bar¬ 
bara’s day and tells us whether we are to have a fine 
harvest next year.” 

“ What fun,” said Kate. “ It’s like those funny 
heads with grass growing on them we saw in New 
York.” 

The bounteous feast was soon under way. Bob 
and Kate, who were overjoyed at staying up so late, 
ate till they could eat no more. But before the end, 
when coffee and wine and nuts appeared, they be¬ 
came very sleepy and departed in company of 
Bridget. 

Olivier and Eduard, however, seemed to be as 
fresh as ever and enjoyed everything to the utmost. 

After dinner all sat about the fire and the talk 
turned to family history. 

“ It is our day for ancestor worship,” whispered 
Madame Noir to Mr. Carter. 

Many were the stories of heroism they told. Sol¬ 
dier and civilian, they had been a chain of splendid 
men and women. 

Mr. Carter, too, was asked to contribute and told 
a story which the children knew by heart. How 



AU REVOIR 


223 


one of his uncles had gone from Texas into Mexico 
to fight at the side of the ill-fated Maximilian, the 
French prince who claimed Mexico and was so 
treacherously slain. 

General Noir, who had often met Maximilian’s 
unfortunate widow in Paris, was almost moved to 
tears. 

It was another link to bind the families together. 
Madame Noir had placed Jack beside her after sup¬ 
per, much to his embarrassment. She wanted to 
make a hero out of her son’s rescuer. She felt that 
he above all others was the honored guest. 

After the stories all joined together in the sing¬ 
ing of Noels or Christmas carols and quaint and 
curious were some of them. One was a dialogue 
between Joseph and the keeper of the inn at Bethle¬ 
hem which began with a prolonged “ Hou ” and was 
sung by Monsieur Jean and his sister. Then came a 
dialogue between an angel and a shepherd — and 
many others, some gay, some beautiful. Then Mr. 
and Mrs. Carter and Jack and Alice sang for their 
French friends some of the English carols: “On 
the wintry and lonely hillside,” and, “ It came upon 
the midnight clear.” Last of all, everyone joined in 
singing the old, old hymn, “ Adesti Fideles: ” 

“ O come all ye faithful 
Joyful and triumphant, 

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.” 

Some sang in Latin and some in English but not a 
voice was silent. It was the signal for the breaking 



224 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


up of the family gathering. Jack and Alice and the 
two little French boys, half asleep, tumbled off to 
bed, but not before they had looked out of the 
eastern window. 

“To see the star of the Christ child,” Eduard ex¬ 
plained. And indeed one star in the east was 
brighter than the others. It seemed to say to them, 
“ Come and see where the Lord is lying.” All the 
rest of the family, including Mr. and Mrs. Carter, 
went out into the cold moonlight to the near-by church 
to attend the midnight mass that should usher in the 
Christmas feast day. 

The Carter children had told their new friends 
all about the American way of keeping Christmas, 
so as a sort of compromise, the presents were all dis¬ 
tributed by an imitation Santa Claus, who appeared 
a short time after Monsieur Jean retired to visit his 
dogs after the Christmas dinner. Altogether the day 
was a great success and passed without the home¬ 
sickness which Mrs. Carter had dreaded for the 
children. Their hosts, and particularly Eduard and 
Olivier wanted them to stay on until Epiphany, the 
Feast of the Three Kings, for on that day all good 
Provencal children go forth to meet the three kings. 

“ Perhaps,” Eduard said, “ it would be given to 
you to see them.” Bob and Kate stared at him. 
They could imagine a Santa Claus, but this was too 
much. 

“ Have you seen ’em? ” gasped Bob. 

“ No, we hope to some day,” said Olivier gravely. 

On the last day of their stay at the chateau a let- 



AU REVOIR ' i 2 $ 


ter was forwarded to them from Madame de 
Riviere. It was addressed to Alice and contained the 
joyful news that they had found “ Uncle Henri.” 

“ You can imagine our joy at this Christmas sea¬ 
son to have our lost restored to us,” she wrote. “And 
picture to yourself his joy, alone and far from home. 
He will return to us when he can close his affairs in 
America, for he has 1 made good,’ as you say there. 
He is the part owner of a sheep farm. But he still 
loves his old home the best, he says. Ah, it will be 
a joy to see him.” 

“ Well, I certainly never expected it,” said Mr. 
Carter. “ It seems like a miracle.” 

'“ A Christmas miracle,” said Mrs. Carter. “ I 
can imagine their joy.” 

“ It is to you we owe it all, dear little one,” wrote 
Madame de Riviere. “ Some day you must come 
and visit us all again, a united family on this Fete de 
Noel.” 

“ Our youngsters seem to have been pretty good 
fairies,” said Mr. Carter to his wife, while Jack and 
Alice went off to say some last important words to 
Eduard and Olivier. 

They were to start for Nice on their way to Italy 
at the same time that Monsieur Jean and Monsieur 
Rene left for the north. 

Many were the friendly farewells and genuine 
was the sorrow expressed at parting. 

“ You will come to us again Jack,” said Madame 
Noir kissing him. “You are one of us — indeed 
we feel that we are all one family.” 



226 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE 


“ Come across in your Antoinette and visit us in 
Texas. Remember you promised/’ laughed Mr. 
Carter, trying to bring a smile to the serious faces 
about him. 

“ I am coming, Monsieur,” answered Monsieur 
Jean. “ Things more wonderful will occur. You 
will see.” 

Then he turned to Jack and taking his hands with 
both of his own, 

“ We will meet again, petit frere /’ he said. “ You 
have to show me the snowy plains of your land. 
And we have not yet gone through the sky, with its 
stars, together. Au revoir f mon cher.” 

And au revoir was the hopeful word which all ex¬ 
changed. 

Then the carriages drove away down the gentle 
slope to the station below. 

“ Only a week or so more in France and then on 
to Italy,” said Mr. Carter. 


THE END 



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